Silent Hill: The Revisit
by brian.sloan.353
Summary: A novelization and re-telling of the fantastic Silent Hill video game. Most of the story is based on the original version of Silent Hill for Playstation, but contains attributes of the Shattered Memories version. I added points of view, events, and details that were not fully explained in the game, and focused more on helping readers fully understand the plot


**"Silent Hill: The Revisit"**

_A novelization of the_

_Silent Hill videogame_

_created by Konami_

Written by Brian Sloan

Foreward/Acknowledgement

First and foremost, I want to thank Konami for their very inventive and original storyline and creation of Silent Hill, and the series therein created by it.

I hereby acknowledge that the story, plot, and characters from the Silent Hill video game are used in this novelization, and do not claim to have come up with these ideas on my own. I have simply taken the storyline, characters, and plot from the video game and have created my own interpretation of these ideas, and formed them into the following novel.

While there are ideas where I have rearranged the order of the story and the dialogue, I am not claiming to have made up this novel on my own. Konami is given the full credit for their creation of the Silent Hill game, and this novel is not a complete work of my own ideas but instead a derivative work of my own creation.

**Prologue: The Epilogue**

_I was somehow dreaming, but I was still awake. I was here, but I was somehow there at the same time. It was like I was back in that nightmarish town…and yet nowhere near. It was like consciousness was split, somehow still tethered to that otherworldly place. My senses became alive, and in a split second I was aware of being in a classroom. I was somehow my childlike form again. It was strange…the teacher was lecturing us, yet her voice was far away as if there was a dampening effect on the soundwaves moving through the air. I looked down at my paper on my desk, and there was a drawing there. I don't remember drawing it. It was a sea of faces, sunken and distorted. Fire consumed it all…and darkness fileld wherever there wasn't fire._

_ I panicked, afraid someone would see the drawing and stuck it under my desk. To my surprise, no one seemed to notice. They all sat up straight in their desks, heads locked into position towards the front where the teacher droned on. Their faces seemed frozen and emotionless, hypnotized somehow. When the teacher's back was turned, I even waved my hand in someone's face. They didn't respond with any movements, not even their with their eyes...creepy. Not sure what else to do, I readied another piece of paper and found that the teacher's voice was steadily becoming more clearer, slowly getting closer to the room._

_ As I started writing, I felt a weird strain in my arm. It persisted and soon found I couldn't move my arm on its own anymore. It was writing automatically, and I started to panic. I called out to the teacher, and she went on lecturing as if I didn't even exist. Things got more unsettling as the teacher's voice began to deepen, first sounding like a man's voice, then to such a low pitch it sounded like a demon speaking in a warped gravely tone._

_I looked down at my paper and saw that over and over I'd written "COME BACK! PLEASE COME BACK! WE'RE WAITING FOR YOU WE'RE WAITING WE'RE…" and it continued this pattern incessantly. I tried to use my left hand to stop my right hand from writing, but it was frozen in place._

_After I filled an entire page with these omonious scribblings, I went to the next piece of paper and began drawing. I began to draw a series of circles, and soon connected lines and other shapes to form some archaic looking symbol that I'd never seen before. Suddenly my hand dropped the pencil and went completely still. The symbol suddenly turned red and began to glow, illuminating the room with a fiery pulse. It go so bright It began to hurt my head, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from it._

_ "Harry? Harry Mason." The teacher's growly voice called me, and I was able to move for a moment. I looked up, and the teacher was pointing at me._

_ "Yes….?"I called out meekly, sounding a million miles away. The teacher didn't respond. She only stood there, locked in a statuesque pose with her arm extending out towards me. Was she accusing me of something? I looked around me, and saw that suddenly all the children around me were standing up, all facing me and pointing at me. How did that happen without making any noise?_

_ "What? Wh-why are you doing that? Stop!"_

_ Like the teacher, they beared no reply and continued to point. I wanted to leave, to run out of there like a bat out of hell, but I was frozen in place. Simultaneously, the teacher and students all began to move towards, moving at an eerie, stalking pace. I could only sit and watch in terror as they closed in on me. Then the room began to spin and I heard shattered glass, and I was falling…_

"Huh?" I felt myself move involuntarily, and was momentarily disoriented. Scanning around me I felt a pinge of embarrassment when I saw I was in the doctor's office.

"Mr. Mason?" A receptionist said, and I looked to see she must have been staring at me all along.

"Uh-hum yes?"

"Are you alright? You were jerking around in your chair for a moment."

"Yes, I'm alright. I-I must have dozed off for a moment. Having a…a dream is all."

"Oh, you did. Happens to the best of us. Sorry for such a long wait. Dr. Ingram got behind today, and some patients can run him over on top of that."

"That's okay. I must have been tired enough to need a nap anyway. I haven't been sleeping too well recently."

"I see. Can we get you anything while you wait."

"Oh, no that's okay. Thank you."

"Alrighty. We'll call you when Dr. Ingram's ready."

"Thanks"

I breathed in deeply, trying to keep my nerves calm as I waited patiently. The chair upon which I sat was remarkably comfortable, a testament to my recent napping. I liked the relaxed vibe of the office, it was a nice distraction from the fact that I would be spilling all of my deepest secrets and thoughts soon. The office décor was soothing, and relaxed was good; it was very controversial to how I felt at that moment. I needed to be able to relax to tell the shrink what I was about to tell him. This story was going to be a doozy, all right.

_"It's the blue,"_ I told myself soberly. The pale-blue wallpaper in the room brought a tranquil feeling that I embraced willingly. Talking about my experience wasn't going to be easy, evendespite how long ago it happened.

_Seventeen years_…hard to believe. So many nights I awoke in clammy sweat, sometimes even screaming, from the relentless nightmares. My daughter Heather had been so patient with it all, especially for a teenager. Then again, it was probably just normal to her because she was just so used to it.

Sometimes, she would sit with me for a moment until I calmed down. She knew that I was always loved our cuddle time. Sweet kid. She'd even listen to my stories or pieces of my experience that my nightmares were related. Over time she'd pretty much heard the whole story. The story of my terrifying experience in Silent Hill. It reminded me that I wasn't alone in this. I don't know what I'd do without her.

"Mr. Mason?" A soft voice called, and I looked over to the receptionist. Her taut, business-like smile was set in place. I stood up quickly, feeling like a young cadet standing at attention for a higher-ranking officer.

"Yes?" I stumbled out.

"Dr. Ingram is ready to see you. He's on his way right now. Are you sure there's not anything I can get you? You just look so nervous I thought a cold drink could help."

"No thanks," I started, but changed my mind. "Actually, you know what? I could go for a root beer. You guys have that?" She paused for a second in thought, and then nodded.

"Yes, we do, actually."

"Thanks, hun."

"Back in a moment!" I sat back down, suddenly desiring that cold liquid more badly than anything else. Sometimes you never realize how thirsty you are until the idea of a drink is brought up. Just one of those things. Plus, the idea of talking to the doctor in less than minute's time made my throat start to feel dry. I twiddled my thumbs,feeling that strong urge to do something with my hands. The ants were crawling.

A moment later, the door opened again, and a man dressed in slacks and a long sleeve button-up stepped in. He peered at me over his spectacles, which seemed especially small due to his long nose. It had a comical effect; he looked like a cartoon pelican wearing a pair of glasses. To keep from chuckling at this thought, I immediately stood up and met him halfway to shake his hand.

"Mr. Mason? I'm Dr. Ingram," He spoke smoothly, his tone so soothing it felt borderline condescending. IT was only at first, and I realized that he probably just spoke that way with all his patients. Immediately, I didn't feel as threatened, despite my nervousness. He reached a hand towards me to shake, and I took it with ease. I felt like he wasn't just shaking my hand, he was cradling it.

"Harry Mason. Glad to finally meet you, Dr. Ingram. I must admit, I expected a psychiatrist visit to be a little bit different for some reason." I glanced back to emphasize the look of his office.

"Really? What did you expect? Chains and a rubber room?" The doctor laughed jovially at this. Although I felt too nervous to really laugh, the fact that he pointed that out still made me laugh.

"I guess I did, a little. I just…I know my story is uh…not your average story, you know? I'm sure most of your patients just have regular every day stresses to speak with you about."

"Mr. Mason, don't forget I am a psychiatrist, not a guidance counselor. I've heard some strange things in my day. You wouldn't be the first to tell me. But needn't you worry. Follow me." He led me into a back hall, where he guided me to a small, cozy room with an even more comfortable couch.

"Man, you guys know where to find a good couch," I said lightly.

"Anything to make my patients feel as at-ease as possible. Now first off I just want to go over legal disclosures with you. Anything and everything we say here is private and confidential. It will not be shared with anyone without your permission, and I am legally bound to this. So don't feel that this is something that would ever be gossiped about around the office and so forth."

"Okay, fantastic."

"Now there are exceptions. If anything you tell me indicates that you are at risk to harming yourself , or others, or that you've done anything illegal then I'm obligated to contact any authority related to it. Do you understand this?"

"Yes."

"Okay, great. Just sign these forms here," he handed me a clipboard with said disclosures which I signed.

"Now we can really get started here. I just want to say upfront here, that I'm not here to judge you, or decide whether you're lying or telling the truth. And most importantly, I'm not going to order someone in white to throw a straight jacket on you just because you may have a wild story. I'm simply here to listen and analyze what you tell me. I'll offer any insight to your story and see what kind of connections I can make. So more than anything else, just think of me as an outlet, if you will. How does that sound?"

I paused, and felt my shoulders feel a little bit of tension knowing I was going to start. I wasn't being put on trial here, or being scrutinized for sanitarium consideration. I was simply here to talk, nothing more and nothing less.

"That sounds fantastic," I said with some relief, but not without a little unease. After all, it was not a very easy story to tell. Seventeen years was a long time but the memory remained imprinted so vividly, it could easily have been three weeks as it was seventeen years.

_Alright, here it goes. I was about to tell him my story of what happened in Silent Hill._

"Now before you start, I want to ask you a few basic questions."

"Sure, go right ahead."

"Do you have any history of mental illness?"

"No."

"Insomnia or trouble sleeping at night?"

"A lot shortly after the incident. They died down over time."

"Good to hear. Are there usually nightmares associated with the sleeplesness?"

"Yes, and those have been frequent recently."

"About what typically?"

"Anything remotely associated with Silent Hill. Sometimes bits and pieces sewn in with everyday life events, other times like a complete reenactment."

"I see. When you're awake do you…ever see things that aren't there?"

"No. I'm not delusional."  
"Okay. How about your health? Do you eat well? Get good exercise?"

"Yes to both, but kind of. I'm not really fit or anything, but I'm not a couch potato either."

"Alright, then. How is everyone? Is your daughter doing well?" The doctor asked, his face showing real concern.

"Heather's doing great," I responded. "Why are you asking this?"

"Well, I don't mean to be intrusive, Mr. Mason…"

"Harry…please."

"—Harry, these are just some basic questions to get you talking, helping you ease into it. Not trying to analyze her or anything, just getting off the subject briefly, is all. Do you feel uncomfortable talking about any of them?"

"No, that's not it. I was only curious….Heather's great. Having her was almost like having Cheryl back…not that she's a replacement of Cheryl..."

There was suddenly a feeling of dead weight dropped in my gullet. I hadn't talked about Cheryl in years. Emotions deep within the graveyard of my consciousness were being dug up, and I could feel a wave hit me. I had to keep in control, though. No use in blubbering like a fool now, when I finally felt I could indulge someone other than Heather with my story.

"Good. Now, let's get started. I want you to simply tell me the story, straight from the beginning. Is it okay if interject at some points, just to ask you questions for clarification."

"Yeah, I guess that's alright."

"Good, good. I'll try to keep it to an absolute minimum. I know interruptions can make you lose focus, and the last thing I want to do is break that focus on your memory, especially with the events being so long ago. So, just take your time, and start from the beginning."

"Well, I can tell you that this story is not just my own. It's also Cybil's story. We've kept up over the years so I know her side of things too. Now part of my story I want to include certain things that were happening in the background that I wasn't aware of at the time. This way, you get the full picture of what was happening linearly. It's…easier that way, I think."

"Alright. I can understand that. Ready to begin?"

"Yes. Alright…um…here it goes…"

**Part 1: The Welcoming**

Chapter 1

The ride to Silent Hill was just as I had expected; lonely, tiresome, and eerily calm. Rubbing my bloodshot eyes from the eight-hour drive (six hours in at this point), I sighed and sank back into my car seat, my hands loose on the steering wheel. My leg was getting a cramp, and I shifted a little bit to give it some relief. Tiny pinpricks traveled through my ankle. If I learned (or re-learned) anything so far, it was that I hated long car trips.

At least now the terrain was a little more interesting.

_Had Jodie still been around, she could drive…_

"Stop it," I scolded myself under my breath. Not thinking about Jodie was going to be the best thing for me. I had just started to _normalize _, to come to terms with her passing. The thought of her being able to take the driver's seat for a while seemed nice…heavenly even.

_At this point, I am more than ready to call this trip quits._ But with the situation at hand I couldn't give up. This trip was essential. I looked back over my shoulder at my seven-year old daughter Cheryl. She shifted involuntarily in her sleep, her sketchbook tucked firmly under her arms. I gazed at her crooked smile as she slept, her jet black hair hanging in front of her eyes. Her simple pale-blue checkered sundress fanned out from under her in her seat. I smiled, feeling one of those strong, mixed emotions well up inside me. It was the relief of a parent who had a love of their child so deep it was uncanny.

For the first time in six months, Cheryl was sleeping _comfortably_.

Cheryl had been having nightmares every night for the past six months, with no straight or reasonable explanation in sight. I didn't think it was strange at first with children's usual fears of monsters and other make-believes at her age. Yet, somehow, this situation was different. The frequency and intensity of them caught my attention, I couldn't explain in mere words, but perhaps it was the depth of Cheryl's despair over her dreams that made it different. I couldn't help but feel as if…as if she was being _haunted_.

It felt odd to use that word, but no other word quite fit. Since the dreams, Cheryl not only was tired most of the time; she became more quiet and withdrawn. It wasn't like her at all. Sometimes when I talked to her, I felt as if I was speaking to an entirely different person. She became more temperamental as well, her emotions going up and down over the smallest inconsistencies. This was to be expected of children because they're know to be emotional but…it was very unlike hern general happy-go-lucky nature. Even despite her mother's death Cheryl had coped very well and kept positive. Children can be so much more resilient than we give them credit for.

"All of these things are just a way of coping," the psychologist had said. "It's just like when adults begin to eat more, or have a lack of physical activity. She's just experiencing a manifestation of stress through her dreams. There have been numerous cases of children having nightmares due to stress. Sometimes, children don't cope with the stress outwardly and internalize it, and that changes from case to case." I regarded the psychologist's theory as total crock, knowing how good Cheryl had been doing before, yet still a part of me wanted to believe him. To say that my daughter was experiencing emotional trauma from her mother's death seemed (in a morbid way) more cheery than being haunted by some unseen force. Yet, there _had _to be something more. Even as a journalist who relied much on facts, I never ignored my intuition.

To hopefully gain some clue of my daughter's dreams, I began to observe her. It seemed strange, but I was running out of options. There was a problem, and I was going to fix it. Sure, I could pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars for Cheryl to go to a sleep-study, but I didn't want her to feel like there was something _wrong _with her. I also didn't like the idea of her being hooked up with wires or electrodes and all that. It seemed simpler to just record her myself, see if she said anything in her sleep. Loss of sleep for me was the least of my worries.

After observing her for over a week, I began to understand a little. In many of her nightmares, she would murmur undecipherable words. At first, I just dismissed them as nonsense words, or sleep-gibberish. Yet, there was a certain clarity that begged me to listen even closer. Listening closely, I could feel an ominous presence when she talked. Her voice seemed to even change a bit at times, but never overtly. It was always just subtle enough to not catch your attention at first. It seemed like she was saying the same thing over and over like a strange mantra of some kind. This took up most of my video footage, and I became more frustrated.

I almost felt like giving up, until I noticed that she was actually saying something intelligible while reviewing a tape. I plugged my headphones in and cranked it to full capacity. After listening over and over, she was apparently saying "Silent Hill." The more and more I listened, I noticed this is mostly wa she uttered as she tossed and shifted uncomfortably in her sleep. I was unsure at first, but it sounded more and more finite to the more I heard it. Kind of like that lyric that you can't understand and later makes perfect sense after you read the lyrics.

_Silent Hill?_

The name sounded vaguely familiar, yet did not strike any particular chord with me. It was peculiar that in many of her dreams, this exact phrase was repeated. This was perhaps some source of her dream. What was this a real place, and what connection did it have with Cheryl's nightmares?

Often after I woke Cheryl, I would ask what her dream was about. Oddly she would never have a memory of her dreams. I even tried specifically asking her if the dream was about a place called Silent Hill. Still no recollection. I began to believe that it was perhaps a nickname for some nightmarish place that she visited in her dreams.

That theory didn't last for very long.

After doing some research, I found that it was indeed a real town. It was in upstate Virginia, located in a valley just north of a small town called Brahms. Using some of my sources, I found that it was a quaint resort town known for it's beautiful Taluca Lake. It was a popular vacation spot, yet there was more to it. After digging a bit deeper, I found varous newspaper clippings that showed scrutiny for various cultist activities that went unregulated. Yet, no confirmed cultist groups or sects were ever confirmed or brought to light. It was simple whispers and rumors, definitely not uncommon for a small town.

Seven years ago, there was a terrible house fire which spread throughout the town. Due to the town's drought that year, it was difficult to obtain enough water needed to control the fire and it consumed nearly half the town. The community of Silent Hill was devastated, leaving only a smoking ruin of the affected area.

Over time, the town slowly but surely rebuilt itself and the surviving residents picked back up where they left off. Yet, many of the townspeople believed that the cultist activities continued. They also believed that the cult was involved in the fire, most likely some sort of sacrificial burning. To this day, no one has ever found out the true source of the fire.

When I'd heard about how strange incidents that made the hairs stand on the back of your neck, I'd always thought that it was a cliché or a strange exaggeration. I felt very different about that now, experiencing the sensation myself while reading the articles. How could Cheryl have known about this town? I had to dig deep into records just to find it myself. Did she somehow stumble upon pictures and information on the town, which resulted in the nightmares now plaguing her? It just simply didn't add up.

After extensive contemplation and conversation-some with Cheryl's psychologist and some with my family-I decided that it was time for Cheryl and I to take a trip to this mysterious town, and see what connection there was between this and my daughter. As odd as the idea seemed, it was the only idea I had left to help Cheryl. She was my only daughter, and I had to do something.

So as not to let Cheryl in on the seriousness of the trip, I told her that we were taking a vacation. This was something to get her excited again, and perhaps we could relax in the process. It would even be our first big outing together ever since….

I shuddered, pushing the oncoming emotions from welling up as the face of my wife Jodie materialized in my mind. My wife Jodie died three years earlier of an undiagnosed sickness, making life very difficult for the both of us. I felt so much love for her, and yet it made it all the more painful to see her go through what she did. The constant fevers and headaches. The regret she had for not seeing Cheryl growing up. Even though Cheryl wasn't our biological daughter, she always felt like one of us.

Cheryl had been found on the side of the road on a vacation Jodie and I took seven years ago. It was a miracle that we had found her, considering it was in the middle of nowhere. Jodie had gotten carsick and when she stepped out of the car she heard the faint sound of crying. She looked over at a nearby grassy field and saw a white bundle laying there. Her motion sickness forgotten, she ran over and picked up the baby. No one was around, except this precious little child. How someone could have left her…it was beyond me.

We checked with any and all records nearby to see if there was anyone who had a child missing or any correlation to Cheryl's appearance. Strangely there was none, but we gladly took her into our home. Jodie and I couldn't have kids of our own and this seemed like a blessing. God was smiling upon us.

I contemplated back on everything, the memories and times we had. As I drove on, becoming lost in my thoughts, I could help but wonder what answer awaited me in Silent Hill…

Chapter 2

The night was quiet, and the air was still. There was no sound of wind howling in my ears; just the quiet stillness of hills, the crunch of the tires on gravel roads, and the hushed breathing from Cheryl.

The slow strobe-light effect of the hillside lights began to give me a headache after some time, especially since my eyes were so tired from focusing on the road. Considering how many miles I'd driven over flat, dull plains, it was a miracle I didn't get road-hypnotized. So it was no surprise that I was getting very anxious for a break seven hours into the trip.

When I was about four hours in, I found that the radio seemed to lull me to sleep rather keep me awake. I decided it best for me to provide my own soundtrack for the remainder of the trip, that "soundtrack" being the very thoughts that rambled through my thick head. It sounds strange, because music keeps most people awake in the car, but not me. Then again, I'm not like everybody else either.

A specific thought kept pushing itself to the forefront of my mind, but I continually fought to keep it back.

"This road trip could prove to be a very good story," I thought inwardly. "It would be personal, making it even more interesting to readers. Who knows what kind of strange secrets and history we could encounter."

I mentally slapped myself on the hand, recoiling from the thought. How could Harry Mason, writer of the Daily Stand, make money off such a story? I could hear the title now.

"_**Journalist's Daughter Crazy:**_

_**Conspiracy With Cultist Town."**_

Using a story from my own life about my daughter's misery to pull in more readers…I got nauseous from the simple mention of it. I applauded myself generously from keeping this story from my editor. My editor, being the greedy man that he was, would kill his own mother just so he could have the exclusive scoop. I knew sooner or later that he would put together the pieces.

The stress' affect on Cheryl had begun to transfer to me, putting a damper on my creativity and causing my writing to become more monotonous and bland. "Writer's block via daughter", I thought to myself every tine I sat down to my laptop, hoping in vain that words would start forming a great story because they felt pity for me.

Times were tough, and it was showing. This seemingly strange trip (screw that, it _was _strange) could make or break my career. As painful as the experience had been for my daughter and I, there was some good that could come out of it. I began to feel that a new, stronger bond had formed between us since Jodie's death.

Since the day we found Cheryl on the side of the road, I knew my life would change. As much as a blessing Cheryl was to my wife and I; it always felt like Cheryl bonded more to Jodie than me. As much as I tried, I felt that I could never break those walls. Maybe had Cheryl been my blood-daughter, it would have been different but still, I loved her very much as my own flesh and blood.

Now, through the grief of my wife's unfortunate passing and Cheryl's dreadful experiences, something had happened to those walls. Perhaps a small, invisible army had marched around Cheryl's mental "Walls of Jericho", singing and shouting until the Walls had come a 'tumblin' down. Now able to breach the walls, I felt a closeness with Cheryl that I'd never felt before.

_God, I missed Jodie_. As the lights blurred past me in the dark road, it oddly reminded me of how the long fluorescent lights of the hospital seemed to fly past overhead as I chased after Jodie's limp form in a hospital gurney.

The doctors all talked too fast.

The lights went by too fast.

Jodie's life…it all went by too fast.

I remember standing by her bedside, the salty tears stinging my eyes. It reminded me of being out in the ocean way too long. But this ocean was much darker than any I'd visited before. I was drowning in this one.

As the life drained out of her, I'd told her how much I loved her, and what the time I did have with her meant. I apologized for being so closed up when she got sick…I was never too great with dealing with real-life trauma. Under stress I either yelled or clammed, and with her I acted more clam than human. All the interviews, and all the stories I wrote that seemed so gregarious and open…that was easy because it wasn't me. Now as she lied there on that hospital bed, I thought of how many more times I should have said "I love you" and how much more I should have expressed my feelings with her and how I should have admitted when I was wrong and how I didn't mean anything harsh I ever said-

_Stop it, Harry!_

-and she had tried to speak, but couldn't really say much of anything, being so weak. But I knew. Her eyes said more than any words could. They truly are the windows to the soul, as they say.

When I first found out that my wife was sick, I put on a show. Anyone, especially men, know about puttong the "perforance". You try to act all strong and brave to give everyone else's strength, or just that it doesn't bother you as much as it really does. And in these situations, it's total bull.

Problem is, it _does_ bother you. Yet we still hide.

Over the six months, I kept up the act of brvado, hoping the façade would make everything all right no matter what, and that I was handling the situation with ease.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The wellspring of grief and tears that I had pushed down had gotten full. At each moment that Jodie's condition worsened, the well began to fill, rising further to the surface. After a time, the well was overflowing, and eventually the pressure was too great. I finally let it burst.

As I lay beside her on the bed, I thought back on all the times we had. The times we had tried to have a baby was hard. "She's just not going to be able," the doctor had said.

There were so many nights we lay in bed, her arms around me, completely encompassed with one another in the ecstasy of love making. The love we shared was sweet, and satisfying as a frosty Coke on a hot summer day. Though I didn't verbally express my love (ironically being a journalist), the physical part was never too hard for me. The fact still remained: Jodie knew I loved her, and I knew that she loved me, and that's all that mattered...and then we found Cheryl. She was our angel, the answer to our prayers.

Those _were_ some damn good years, and that was a fact. And nothing could take it from us, except for….

Feeling myself getting emotional over my reminiscing, I snapped back to reality, watching the roads pass by, when suddenly a field caught my eye.

Without warning, the synapses in my brain began to fire off. A new connection flowed through the neurons in my brain. They came way too late.

_This is where we found Cheryl…_

As tempting as it was to stop, I didn't. The sound of the wheels and the road soothed Cheryl somehow, and she slept soundly now. If I stopped, I was afraid that Cheryl would awake and not be able to get back to sleep. And if she asked questions, I didn't want to lie to her. Not now.

I looked out at the grassy patch of road beside me. This was definitely the spot where Jodie and I had found her. I couldn't believe that I had never figured it out before.

As if there weren't enough questions already floating around, many new ones began to spring up, as well as a new possibility. Cheryl very easily could have been born in Silent Hill.

I let my mind flow freely with the questions, and tried to answer them as best I could. Yet, no answers were definite enough. I had to find out for myself. Finally tired of wracking my brain for answers, I began to think back on when Jodie was sick again.

I missed her so much. This invisible hole had formed, and for now, Cheryl was able to fill it. Yet, when I thought of Jodie…

Although the dark years with Cheryl preceding her death were hard, I would do everything over again in a heartbeat, if it meant that I could see Jodie again. Life was hard, but the best times could be made within the hard times. I always believed it, but in all honesty you can't _always_ feel that way. Hard truths are easier to believe than soft lies.

I shook myself out of the past thoughts, trying not to get too lost within. Instead, I thought maybe I should turn the radio on and see what was worth hearing. I reached over and clicked on the radio and was immediately greeted by a harsh, piercing noise.

Instinctively, I held my hands over my ears, making it hard to concentrate on the road. In that unexpected moment, I swerved too hard to the right, barely brushing the guardrail. Panic set inside me as I felt sure the Jeep would plow through the rail, but Lady Luck seemed to be on my side for the moment. She was a saint…

While all this was happening, Cheryl woke up with a startle to the radio's screeching, and began to wail. Her screams seemed almost in sync with the radio's noise.

I frantically punched at the power button with my thumb, proving unsuccessful and my panic retarded my coordination. The screaming from Cheryl made it that much harder to concentrate, and I swerved to the left towards the mountain pass. The strange squeal changed, turning into spikes of static

"Cheryl, honey! Stop screaming!" I yelled, finally hitting the button to turn off the sound. With the squealing noise gone, Cheryl simultaneously ceased her, and the air fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Before I could even breathe a sigh of relief, blue and red lights began to flash from behind us.

_Superb timing, Pork Chop. _I thought, suppressing a small giggle in my throat. Cheryl pulled her knees up to her chest and her eyes did a superb imitation of a trapped doe.

"You alright, hun?" I spoke softly now, hoping to keep Cheryl calm. I felt a little guilty for yelling, but I'm sure Cheryl understood that I was just reacting. She responded with a quiet, simple nod of the head.

"Alright, well just be very still, okay? The officer probably saw me swerve and wanted to know what was happening." Cheryl nodded her head again, and turned inquisitively, looking through the back window.

From looking in the rearview mirror, I could tell that the police car was not that big…in fact, it wasn't a car at all. It was a motorcycle. I began slowing down, trying to find a suitable spot to the side, but could find none that were far enough from the road. The cop sped up, and was soon right next to me.

The officer pointed to me, then pointed out to the right. I then noticed, following her gesture, that she was referring to a gas station half a mile from our current position. I waved courteously with a forced smile. Anxiety began to set in.

Was I going to be in trouble? Anyone who watched my car swerve the way it did would suspect a drunk driver, and I was sure that was what the officer had surmised that. I could hear her telling her buddies on the force already, "Yeah, some irresponsible drunk dad taking his daughter for a car ride of terror around the mountain." After a minute or two, my newly acquired friend and I reached the aforementioned Texaco station.

By now, I was surer by the minute that I could be arrested for reckless driving and even child endangerment with Cheryl in the car. And the Dad of the Year award goes to….

How could I have been so stupid? I thought. Swerving like that because of a stupid noise. My stupid reflexes…I could have killed us both! Inward I was smacking the back of my head. I glanced back over at my wide-eyed daughter, a deep regret settling in me and making me sick. The poor girl was sucking her thumb, which she hadn't done in years.

"Thumb out, Cheryl," I said softly, and she quietly removed it.

I deserved this, but not Cheryl. Her daddy had let her down, and I was so close to reaching my destination. All I wanted to do was help her, and now I was going to get locked up, and Cheryl would be taken away from me, and…

"Calm down!" I shouted inwardly. "Just relax, and explain the situation. That's all you can do. Getting yourself worked up is not going to help anything!" I _did_ had a bad habit lately of overthinking and exaggerating. With no one else to do it, sometimes I had to yell at myself to keep my mind striaght. Very therapeutic…

Two minutes passed, which felt like an eternity for me. I was sure, completely convinced, that cops took their time on purpose to make you sweat a little. It was probably part of their police code, to freak people out-of this I was sure.

Finally, the officer approached the car. Interestingly, when the officer removed his helmet, I realized that it wasn't a "he' but a "she." A blonde ponytail popped out from underneath the helmet. The police officer walked up to the window briskly, with a very methodical kind of grace.

As stressed as I was, for some reason I couldn't help but notice the officer was attractive, and the tight uniform seemed to accentuate how well she kept in shape. She worked out, it was obvious, but fortunately not a "Xena Warrior Princess-type" physique but more of a fit, toned look. As much as I was intimidated by cops, this one was attractive enough to make me not mind quite as much.

Maybe she would even rough me up a little after she put on the cuffs…

_Dammit Harry, focus! You're getting pulled over, and your mind is wandering. Keep it together for your daughter, please._

"License and registration, sir," she said neutrally, interrupted my inner monologue. I silently handed her all of the information, making sure to move slow and in a perfectly overly-coordinated fashion. She took the papers back to her bike, and started to process it through a small handheld device installed somewhere near the handlebars.

"Get a look at that, Cheryl? They've got computers on bikes, now! Cool huh?" I said incredulously, trying to get Cheryl to perk up a bit. She nodded, looking quizzically at the officer. Cheryl didn't get excited about too much recently. After a minute or two, the officer returned to the car, holding out the two items for me to take.

"Thank you sir," the officer began sharply. "My name is Officer Bennett. I saw you veer back and forth on the road back there. Is everything all right?" The question wasn't demanding or judgmental, but it wasn't one-hundred percent out of concern either.

"Um, yes ma'am. Everything is fine. We just…I went to turn the radio on, and the station I had programmed came out as loud static because we live eight hours away. Anyway, my daughter started screaming and…I just panicked and lost control for a second." The officer looked at me, her blue eyes seeming to bore into my brain. They were a pretty blue color, like the crystalline waters of a pure lake. Yet, those sapphires were probing me, piercing into my ethical fortitude to see if I was lying.

"You know how serious drunk driving is, don't you Mr. Mason?" The question wasn't a question at all. It was a rhetorical probe to see if she could get me to admit to anything. I wasn't biting the fish.

"Yes ma'am, I realize that. I'm not drunk, you can test me if you want. Search my car if you have to. I've had a long car ride, and I was just startled, that's all." The officer looked at me once more, and nodded. Her face seemed to lighten up a little. I think she was finally convinced I wasn't some criminal trying to neglectfully kill my own daughter.

"And who's this back here?" She said, a slight smile escaping her lips. Cheryl peeked up at her shyly. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Cheryl," my daughter responded sheepishly.

"Cheryl, what a pretty name!" The officer beamed.

"Has your daddy had anything to drink from a bottle or anything like that?" I couldn't believe it! This woman was unbelievable! The nerve!

"No, Miss Officer lady. He only drinks coffee or energy drinks when he drives."

_That's right, Cheryl! Tell her!_

She chatted with Cheryl for another agonizing three minutes, then turned back to me.

"You have a precious little girl back there, Mr. Mason. I recommend you don't go veering off the road again. I'm certain you're not drunk, and I believe you, okay? I just want you to be careful out there. How much more driving you got to do?"

"About an hour's worth. I'm heading up to Silent Hill."

"Silent Hill, huh? Sleepy little town. I've been by there some. Good for relaxation. _Very _interesting locals there."

_Yeah, no kidding…_

"Yes ma'am. We're on a little vacation. Toluca Lake looks to die for." I decided that short and sweet was the best thing. She seemed chatty, and I was ready to get on my way.

"Well, you two be safe," the officer said, beginning to step away. "Get you some coffee or something if you're continuing then, ok? Please make sure you're awake enough to do so. If you can't make it, please pull over to the side of the road and take a nap. I see way too many people get into car wrecks from exhaustion because they couldn't admit they were too tired."

"Yes ma'am," I replied respectfully, yet still irritated. "Thank you." The officer nodded and returned to her bike. I exhaled slowly.

"That sure was a close one, daddy," Cheryl suddenly spoke. Taking in the comment, I giggled a little bit, comically wiping my brow.

"Yeah, sure was, kiddo. Sure was." Then, I decided it was probably a good idea to go ahead and get some coffee for the remainder of the trip. The cop was right. I couldn't take any more chances, especially when I was so close.

"C'mon in with me, sweetie. Let's get something to drink," I got out, and unlocked the doors, ushering Cheryl out with me. The gas station loomed ahead of us.

"Daddy, did you think the officer lady was gonna lock you up?" As irritating as it was how insightful kids were, you couldn't help but admire their honesty.

"Yeah, maybe so."

Inside, I picked a hot steaming cup of Cappucino, while Cheryl downed half a Fruit Punch before we even reached the car.

"You were thirsty, weren't ya?" I chided. Cheryl blushed slightly, and covered her mouth. Her cheeks were so red! We got back into the car, and wearily made our way down the road towards our destination. Now, I had the warm comfort of caffeine and coffee on my side. This last stretch wouldn't be so hard after all, hopefully.

Though, I wouldn't be saying had I known what really was ahead of me…

Chapter 3

_As Cheryl slept, a strange consciousness within her began to stir. It had stayed dormant for so very long, waiting for the right time. For now, it could only manifest itself through nightmares. Though Cheryl would never remember, her dreams were full of burnt buildings, strange abominations, rusted metal, blood, claws, teeth…it began to blur. They all seemed to flow together, pulsing as a new life…a new Being. The Thing in her was screaming to get out, feeling the awakening as frightening and vivid as a newborn screaming as it left the mother's womb, born into the new world. _

_ All Cheryl could comprehend was the noises. It was the noises of the creatures. The scraping of nails against the ground. Grunts and screeching. Growls and dragging feet. And there were the new sensations. Cold, colder than anything she's ever known. The feel of metal, and the copper-like taste of blood. Then, finally…she was fully awake._

I stood sentry at the wheel, mentally marking how close we were to the final destination. It had been a very long seven hours, and I was ready for that eighth to be over with. I sighed, thinking of how Cheryl had grown the past two years. and how dark her hair had gotten. When Cheryl was four years old, it was a chestnut brown. Now, it was jet black, and the strands seemed to be thickening as well.

Suddenly, the air around me seemed to change, and I couldn't quite place the feeling. It was like a change in the atmosphere, similar to that charge in the air right before a rainstorm. Or perhaps a change in air pressure…or something else. Suddenly, everything began to start to look fuzzy, and I realized what was happening.

Fog began to appear all around the car, a thick blanket enveloping the space all around us. And it wasn't a gradual shift from the outskirts of a fogbank to the center, it was an immediate change as if the fog materialized out of nowhere. This seemed a bit odd, but then again it was so dark it was really was hard to tell one way or another. I immediately felt nervous, but not just from the fog. It was a strange twinge of feeling unnerved, as if I felt something malevolent was near.

_"Get a hold of yourself, Harry,"_ I thought to myself. You're imagining things. If you can just get a nice long shower, and a good night's sleep, you'll feel just fine.

After a good ten minutes, we came upon another winding road. This would be the final one to lead us to Silent Hill. Seeing as the mountainside roads would be a bit more treacherous, I slowed down. Soon, I came upon a view of the town from the overhead mountain road.

"Hey Cheryl, look out your window," I told her, and she gazed accordingly.

"Wow, that's pretty," she ooh'ed and aah'ed. It made me smile, finally feeling that some color was restored to her being, even if it was temporary. She was toying with the heart pendant necklace I'd given her a year ago, sliding her fingers through the silver chain and onto the metal heart.

Cheryl was right. The scene was indeed quite picturesque. The mist seemed to filter out into the town, giving it a mysterious but calm ambiance. A clear lake, which I recalled to be Toluca Lake, was located in the northwest region. The beautiful trees that adorned the area made the sight a picture among pictures.

_This is it_, I thought. Finally, I could get into our hotel room, kick off my shoes and…

_It happened so fast, I had no time to react. _

As I was turning around a bend in the road, a cloaked shadowy form came stumbling directly in my Jeep's path. My immediate reaction was to turn out of the way, and I swerved to avoid mowing down the unknown figure. I never had time to consider any other option…I wished later that I had.

My foot slammed the brakes, and I jerked the wheel to recourse back on the road, but there was nowhere to go.

I barely remember hitting the guardrail, feeling the space to my right open up, and that odd falling sensation. I reached behind me to grab Cheryl, but the gravity from the fall didn't permit me to do so. We seemed to fall into a foggy abyss, never to return. The last thought that escaped my mind before the crash was losing Cheryl…

Chapter 4

The first thing that registered in my senses was the large surge of pain in my head. Then I snapped open my eyes, visually taking in my surroundings. My head was against the steering wheel, an obvious cause of my aching cranium. A paved street stretched out before me. My car sat haphazardly on top of another car at an odd angle. The first thought that screamed in my head was...

"Cheryl!" I yelled out, looking into the backseat. The very core of my being seemed to plummet.

_Cheryl was gone._

Where she once sat, the belt was undone, and her side door was wide open.

Immediately I threw open my car door and tried to move but was held fast into place by my seatbelt. I mashed the release, allowing me to fall onto the ground which was…frosty? It dawned on me quickly that this was did.

_Snow? This is mid-spring…_

Yet mine eyes did not deceive me. It was definitely snowing here in Silent Hill.

_"Strange. It wasn't snowing back up on the mountain pass…"_

My thoughts jumped back to Cheryl. Already on the ground, I peeked underneath the car, thinking she may have fallen out and rolled underneath. But she wasn't there.

All the worst fears, the worst thoughts, the worst possible scenarios began to assault my mind like a tidal wave. It was only the thoughts that a parent could muster, which was a blind panic.

A man in a trenchcoat found her unconscious in the car and took her away. She hit her head and in a dazed state was out wandering in the cold snow, perhaps even hit by a car. Perhaps she was thrown through the window, and her lifeless form was laying….

No, that wasn't it. The windshield was only cracked, but there was no hole there. Nevertheless, endless horrible possibilities played a loop through my mind over and over. I didn't want to think it could have happened, but I couldn't help but imagine the worst.

I began calling Cheryl's name as loud as I could manage, inspecting the area around me all the while. The throbbing in my head ensued, but I didn't care. When there was no response after searching nearby and calling her name, I couldn't help but feel that she was already too far away for me to reach her.

I shivered against the relentless cold, and decided that I should seek shelter first. The bank of fog that I encountered earlier was here too, and I could hardly see past seven feet. There's no telling how long I'd been unconscious, and the numb feeling in my toes told me it would be most wise to seek warmer surroundings.

From the look of it, I surmised that I had taken quite a tumble. From gazing up, I could see that I had actually fallen down a good ten or so feet from where I had swerved off the road. I had hit another landing point and rolled down a slope right on top this other car. Now, my car was at the entrance of a tunnel amidst other vehicles. All the cars were grouped together as if purposely placed there to bar the tunnel entrance…strange.

Looking all around me, I realized that I was on a road which seemed to go out further into the town the other way.

From what I remembered of the road map and seeing my current surroundings, it looked as if this was the tunnel I would have come out had I continued down the mountainside road. Apparently, my car wasn't the only one to have crashed.

"Had I kept going normally, I would have been blocked off. Someone should report this," I said to myself, then stopped. Speaking of people…where was everyone? There wasn't a single car in motion on the road, and barely any lights seemed to be on.

"Doesn't matter now, Harry. I need to call the police and report that Cheryl is missing. I don't even have the first clue where to look for her in this town." I took out my cell phone, dialed 9-1-1 with shaky fingers. It was a miracle that I was even alive, let alone able to stand.

Moments later, my phone did not respond with a professional voice stating, "911, what's your emergency?" It was nothing like that at all. Instead, I only heard the infamous _beep _you hear when lines are busy, and it seemed to taunt me especially here and now when I needed someone the most. That was one hard bastard, all right. This situation wasn't what I had in mind when I wanted to go on "vacation." Now my car totaled, and Cheryl was missing in a town that I'd never been to, potentially harmed.

Not sure of what course of action to take next, I followed the road away from the entrance tunnel and further into town. After a couple minutes of walking I came to an intersection. Surveying a nearby sign, I read that I was on Bachman Road, an intersection of Bachman and Finch St. Not knowing where else to go, I continued moving further down Bachman.

The first thing I noticed was that almost all the lights were out in the stores around me. It wasn't just isolated to the mountain pass area. I passed by a General Store, a pharmacy, a gas station and more…all with no lights. There were numerous street lamps that were aglow, but nothing else, except…

Approximately twenty-five feet from me, to the left, I saw a structure with their lights still on! I hurriedly made my way toward it. The winds were biting at me, sending chills down my entire body. Gritting my teeth against the cold, I pulled my arms in as tight as possible, wondering why or how Cheryl could walk very far in weather like this. What baffled me the most was why she would even leave in the first place. You think you taught your kid everything…

It was a café diner with the words "Café Stop" printed in large letters across the large window front. I could vaguely make out a shadowy figure inside, seeming to be quite stoic by their movement.It took a couple of good pulls of the door handle to get it open from the snow build-up on the ground, but I made my way in.

Upon entering, the person inside greeted me with a weary turn of the head. It was a middle aged man, hair parted over to the side in a business style cut. He greeted me with a warm, curious smile

"Well hello there , stranger. You look a bit peaked."

"I wrecked my car on the way here to avoid hitting someone. Hit my head and was out for a bit. Don't think its bad enough to be a concussion. I'm not sure how long I've been out but when I came to, my daughter Cheryl was gone. I need your help, please help me find her! There's no telling where could be!"

"Oh my! Are you sure you're alright? With the snow and fog out there and you're injuries, it'd be best to rest here a moment," the bartender replied, looking me over for injuries.

"I'm fine. I just need to find her before she gets too far."

"How about some hot tea or something to warm you up?" The bartender offered. I shook my head impatiently, grateful for the offer otherwise. I was cold, tired, and achy, but even more worried about Cheryl.

"I'm fine. No injuries. Some Tylenol wouldn't hurt, but other than that, I'm okay. You got a phone I can use?"

"I'm sorry to tell you, but all of the phone lines around here are down. If she's trying to call, you probably won't have so much luck."

"Look, you've got to help me find her! She could be lost, or hurt."

"Don't misunderstand me now. I'm concerned too, for your little girl but with the power outages, the snow and this weird fog I doubt if we could find her. We'd be stumbling around a haystack looking for a needle. Have you tried your cell phone? You do have one, don't you? I don't own one. All my relatives are so close haven't needed to get one."

"Already tried. Just a busy signal."

"Sorry to hear that, stranger. In a rock and hard place today. Have something on the house."

And so, I reluctantly agreed and sat down to collect my thoughts, helping myself to some of the bartender's offered hot tea. Figured I might as well warm myself up quick before braving the biting cold outside. The hot tea did help, soothing my nerves a bit. After a moment of reflection, I suddenly remembered something I'd setup just in case of a situation like this.

_The pendant…_

The revelation struck me like a ton of bricks. Finding Cheryl shouldn't be that hard at all. It was a longshot , but worth a try. Pulling out my phone, I looked at it, knowing the answer was right there in my hand.

Unknown to Cheryl, the heart pendant she wore around her neck was not only given to her as a present, but also a device to put her old man at ease.

A year ago, a man attempted to lure Cheryl away from her playground at school. The man was later found and arrested, but it unnerved me to think somebody could have taken her away. It was a father's worst nightmare. So in a case of a kidnapping or if she ever got lost, I bought a heart pendant that has a built in transmitter. All I have to do is activate the beacon and use my GPS to find her.

"You got a map of the town?" I blurted out. "I need to at least have my bearings if I'm going to look for my daughter." The bartender looked at me, cocked a weird grin, and then nodded his head as he made his way to the back area. I took out my phone, and immediately began dialing in the numbers I had memorized. Maybe the connection to the dispatch was down due to the downed lines, but I prayed that the snowstorm wouldn't interfere with the signal since it was all done via satellite. After a moment, a beeping noise indicated that the signal was found. I opened up the GPS on my phone and put in the coordinates displayed from my locator program.

About this time, the bartender returned with a folded-up map. He laid it down in front of me, and unfolded it, smoothing down the edges.

"Right now, you're here," the bartender pointed to a northern area of the map, in a spot near the corner of Finney St. and Bachman Rd. "And from what you said, you came from the northernmost point here. What does your GPS say?"

I looked down, where the series of road names and mileages were now showing. "Half a mile east and…half a mile south. That's all! She's close by!"

"That's good to hear. I knew she wouldn't go far."

"Yes, thankfully. Anyway, I'm gonna get her and bring her back here. I'm sure you'll be here when I return?"

"Of course. Ain't got nowhere to go, anyway."

"Mind if I take this map?"

"Go right on ahead. Oh, and you'll need this too." He reached behind the counter and handed me a fair sized flashlight. "Don't go getting lost or nothin.'"

Thanking the bartender, I slipped the map into my coat pocket and with a renewed sense of hope, raced back outside in the onslaught of snow. I turned my head to the intersection and signs for Bachman Rd and Finney St. Gritting my teeth against the cold, I picked up my pace and began trekking west.

As I made my way down the street, I couldn't help but notice how no one seeming to be home. There only seemed to be one abandoned store after another. Cars were parked in random spaces on the side of the streets. There weren't signs that anyone had left in a hurry. It was as if everyone had disappeared. Everyone was probably inside from the snow, but the houses I past had no lights on, and you'd at least expect to see some kids playing in the snow. Everything was just so damned…._quiet. _Never did the sound of my footsteps seem so loud.

My mind began to think back to history about Roanoke Island and how an entire colony just simply disappeared. It was definitely eerie.

My stomach was twisted in knots, and I expected something to jump out at me any second. It wouldn't be hard for someone to step through the fog and scare the bejeezus out of me. As dense as this fog was, a mack truck could catch me off guard. The unsettled feeling grew with each step. With the sheet of misty vapor around me, it almost felt like I could walk forever and never actually go anywhere. Perhaps this city was enchanted, and you only ended up walking in circles…

After a good five minutes of walking, I decided to look back to my GPS, and saw with relief that I would soon be north of my destination. I started to feel dumb, getting so worked up over possibly losing Cheryl. She had a level head on her shoulders, even for being a seven year old girl. Despite her shyness, she was very intelligent. All of her grades in school were fine, and her eyes, while downcast still showed a keen intellect that few seven year olds beheld.

Then, not so far ahead of me, I made out a hazy figure in the snow. Squinting, I could only make out a faint outline, and moved closer. I barely made out a blue colored dress and black hair. It was Cheryl!

Odd…my GPS still reflected the alleyway…probably just a minor glitch in the distance.

"Cheryl!" I called, and began hurriedly making my way towards her. She didn't respond, her back still to me, even as I approached. As I neared her, she suddenly took off to the left, much faster than I would have anticipated.

"Wait! Cheryl it's me, Dad! Come back! Closing the distance, I soon made my way further down the alley.

_Why the hell is she running from me? She must have heard me…_

The alleyway was much longer than I expected, littered with trash cans and all sorts of miscellaneous junk. Before long, I would see Cheryl, who would be very cold but most likely alright. Everything was going to be fine soon. Yet, she somehow had stayed ahead of me.

"Kid's much faster than I thought."

Then, I felt something behind me. Whipping my head around, I felt my pulse quicken and my heart hammering in my chest. Was that a shadow? Something had definitely moved behind me. I heard it and _felt_ it. For a moment, the world seemed to stand still.

Then, a large Calico cat came sauntering past a group of trashcans, brushing the side of the cans with its slender form. A surge of frustration filled me very quickly. What is wrong with me? Why did I keep feeling so much dread and anticipating something horrible?

Huffing, I turned back around and continued down the alleyway. And just when I thought the alley would never end, it did.

_What? How it could end already? The GPS showed that I still had a bit more to travel._

Then, I noticed a small offshoot to the left. The wall deepened on that side, leading to a small chain-link fence. I swiftly passed through the fence, the hinges creaking like an alarm to my presence. I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was being followed.

Probably being stalked by a cat, what else? _If I was a ball of yarn, I'd probably be in really big trouble right now_. Humor was aways a way to ease my nerves, and it helped a bit now. Brushing my feeling aside, I pressed on deeper into the alleyway. The GPS program on my phone suddenly went out.

I guess with being in that enclosed space, the interference hindered the signal. Either way, I was close enough to find her. Tucking the phone away, I went around some winding turns and down a small set of stairs. Fire escapes were randomly placed at various spots in the alley. _Must be some homes on the other side…_

Then…the siren came.

It started so abruptly, I could have literally jumped out of my skin were it physically possible. The wailing rose to a fever pitch, and fell back again after a long moment. Then, that strange feeling of paranoia and dread filled me; the knot in my stomach came back. The dense fog that extended out into the alley dissipated in mere seconds, and I held my breath. What kind of trick was this? Someone playing a prank on the new guy in town? Let's turn off the fog machine in the creepy alley and see what the new guy in town does?

Yet, what happened next was no trick. The sky, which was fairly bright for this time of day—what time of day was it now anyway?—suddenly faded out into pitch black. Solar eclipse? No, It was way too fast to be natural. It reminded me of lights quickly dimming in a movie theatre, throwing you into an inky blackness.

I reached into my jacket pocket, and pulled out the flashlight I got from the bartender. That feeling of unsettlement went sky high.

For Cheryl I had to keep going. She was my heart. No one could go on in life without their heart, could they? I walked forward some, and shined my light on a wheelchair laying on its side in the corner of the wall.

How strange for a wheelchair to be just sitting…and suddenly I was more uncomfortable when I saw that the wheels were spinning on their own. Shocked but curious, I walked over and placed my hand on the wheel for a second, and it stopped. The second I let go, the wheel went right back to spinning on its own.

_Okay, getting the creeps…walking away now…_

Shaking the unease away, I continued through the alley (which I was beginning to believe would never end). I began to wonder if this alley did a big loop around the area as I followed the walls, until I came upon another item. A hospital gurney stood in the middle of the alleyway, stained in dried up blood.

"Oh God, I hope that's not any of Cheryl's," I thought aloud, feeling more and more alone. "It's dried up though. Looks like has been for a while. Can't be hers."

I came to another fence, and pushed through it. Not far ahead, there was a pool of blood that trailed along with the wall. Reluctantly I followed suit which took me around a tight curve, and my path finally came to a stop. What I saw next made my blood run ice-cold.

A body…no, a _torso_ was strung up before me. The upper half of someone's body had been mutilated and hung up on the fence with barbed wire, blood still freshly wet in many places. The more unsettling part was the arms; how they were pulled out to the sides like a crucifixion. The head tilted back at an uncomfortable-looking angle, looking to the sky as if he was crying out to God for mercy.

The figure was definitely not Cheryl's, but I didn't want to stick around long enough to find out who had done such an atrocious act. My phone suddenly vibrated, and I cringed inwardly. Apparently, the GPS someone worked again here, because it lit up with the message "Destination reached."

I looked down, and my light reflected off something on the ground. A red heart pendant lay at my feet. The chain was broken, probably pulled off her neck. Her pendant was here, but Cheryl was definitely not.

_That means I just missed her….didn't I?_

I examined the ground some more with the light, trying my hardest not to look back up at the grotesque figure hanging above me; not to mention the abominable smell that came out in noxious waves. The police would have to know about this right away. Time to get out of here.

When I began to stand back up, I jumped at a faint sound. I was so focused on the necklace I wasn't quite sure where it came from. It sounded close, and I whipped around to look behind me. Nothing there, and then the sound came again, now behind me. I turned back around to face the grotesque corpse. It was completely still. Was I hearing things now? Unable to look away, I was morbidly entranced by the idea this thing had spoken. No way…it was deader than a doornail.

"help…me…" the lips moved as the words whispered out, and I jumped back. _Dear Lord, this man was still alive._

"I'll…I'll get an ambulance…just hold on," I fumbled the words, and began to run back out of the alley. I had begun to round the first corner out of the alley when…I saw Th_em_. Three of _Them_ came into view almost at once, making me stop dead in my tracks.

They were short, about five-foot even. They were humanoid, except that their faces were all wrong. The placement of the nose and eyes were completely off, seeming to twist into the side of the face. Their skin was a grayish-blue, and looked infected or burnt. The Thing closest to me called out in a voice that did not belong. It said, "Daddy…It hurts, Daddy." My spine felt frozen at the sound of their lost, desperate tone. It wasn't at all what I expected. It was a perfectly normal, human child's voice, an obscene contradiction to their aberrant form. They exposed their teeth in a demented smile, and it was extremely apparent that those teeth served a purpose.

"It can't be," I muttered. "This can't be real. No way. Nothing like this exists." But they did.

When they first came into view my phone started to make strange noises. At first, I wasn't sure where the noise was coming from because it was only a low crackling noise. As the creatures started getting closer, it began to intensify and it was very reminiscent of the noises my car radio had made earlier. As they got within a couple of feet of me my phone started to screech like a bell or whistle.

Backing up, I realized in dread that I had no way out. The only choice was to run towards them. As soon as I was in reach of their grasp, one of the Things grabbed at me. In pure terror, I shoved him (or It) away before it could get a grip on me. My feet slapped the pavement more than ever now after feeling that cold clammy feel of that thing's grasp.

As I passed by the group, one of the Things managed to get a hold of me, and seemed to really latch on. I swiveled to the right, slamming the thing into the wall, which managed to break me free of its grip. I dashed through, bobbing and weaving to avoid the reach of the demon-child hands. Finally, I was past them, and ran full speed ahead. _Oh, God please don't let there be more…._

As I got further from them, the strange noises from my phone died off. Was the phone somehow connected to these strange happenings? Maybe it was a warning of things to come. Either way , it didn't matter, I was getting away from these things….but that joy of escape was soon cut short. The fence that I had entered earlier was now replaced by a solid, brick wall

_No, this couldn't be it. _Maybe I'd taken a different turn…but I hadn't. Frantically looking around, I soon remembered the fire escapes. Searching, I soon found a fire escape ladder nestling seven feet off from a trash dumpster.

Seeing the advancing demon children shambling towards me gave me the motivation I needed. In a couple of movements, I hauled myself on top of the garbage bin, got enough momentum, and then leapt from the edge for the bottommost rung. Swinging my arms forward to grab, my hands connected with the ladder with a resilient _clang_, simultaneously banging my knee against the brick wall. And just as I was enjoying the success of reaching the beloved ladder, I felt it give a little.

I was completely still for a second, waiting for the jostling of the ladder to go dormant. Breathing out slowly, I reached up with my other arm, and grabbed the next rung, and began pulling myself upward. My muscles groaned as I pulled all of my body weight up. Today was the wrong day to be out of shape.

Then, with a loud groan, the ladder broke, and I plummeted down towards the cluster of demonic children that gathered near the dumpster. A metallic ring ensued when I smacked my head on the side of the dumpster, and then I fell in. The rank smell of garbage assailed me, but I was too tired to move. The world was hazy and spinning from my blow to the head, and I felt so uncoordinated and loopy I could hardly move at all. Upon settling inside the mass of stinking garbage, I began immediately praying that these foul creatures could not climb.

It only took a few moments to find out. All at once, the children seemed to start piling in the dumpster with me. The ringing in my head seemed to echo on forever. Now, the sound of my cell phone squealing matched it.

I remember those gnashing teeth and that flaky, gray skin in front of me right before I passed out…

**Part II: The Streets of Silent Hill**

Chapter 1

I awoke in a startle, blood pounding in my ears. Everything looked hazy and unclear, and for a moment, I was unsure if I was even awake. Squinting through my hazy vision, I made out the shapes of an inside area with tables and chairs. A diner. Wait…how did I get here?

It only took me a moment for my vision to clear up, and I soon realized that I was back in the Café Stop. Unlike earlier, the bartender was not present. The window beside me showed that it was foggy and light out again, just like it was before the alley..Yet, now…I wasn't even sure if what happened in the alley….actually _happened._ Yet, it must have, because having a dream where you get a headache doesn't make you get an actual headache when you wake up. And there was very clearly an ache in my head from my fall. I felt around in my pockets, and pulled out the broken heart pendant necklace of Chery's. That answered one question.

Getting up from the couch, I felt my knees wobble and almost fell over. My world swayed and shifted for a moment, my equilibrium thrown off. I quickly sat back down, trying to regain my bearings. Everything finally stopped moving, and I stood back up again feeling my muscles and bones aching. My head wasn't the only thing that hurt apparently.

Looking around, it was obvious that the café was deserted, but…I couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. There was a stillness here that wasn't here earlier.

Like the stillness from the fog…

This feeling was confirmed when I saw the overturned items on the counter nearby. And then there was the red spot coming from under the swinging door that led behind the counter. What happened here?

Feeling like I shouldn't look, I did what any curious person would probably do…I looked anyway.

Moving forward, I realized that the red spot went further behind the bar. Ever so slowly, I followed it, and what it led to made me recoil in disgust.

The bartender from earlier now laid in a pool of his own blood. Upon closer inspection, I noticed two bullet holes, both in his head. Something was strange about him, but I wasn't quite sure what. Leaning in for an even closer look, I began to notice that his skin looked…_off_.

Reminiscent of poison ivy rashes, the skin seemed raised and scaly. The color seemed strange too, almost a light brown tint. What fate had befallen this man, and what had he done to make someone shoot him?

Then, I heard shuffling to my right. I swung around, my eyes wide in fear. The first thing I saw was the muzzle of a Glock-40. The second thing I realized what the person holding the gun was none other than the officer back at the gas station. Bennett, was it? She looked deathly focused, her gun aimed straight at my face.

"Don't move," she commanded, attempting to be authoritative but came out a bit shrill and nervous. It was obvious she was shaken up. She definitely seemed…_afraid _of me. Usually, the person that has a gun pointed _at_ them is afraid.

"Look, I don't know why you killed him, but you don't need to kill me, too," I started. "Whatever reason you're afraid or angry, it has nothing to do with me. I have no reason to hurt you."

"You don't have to have a reason. There was no reason for him to attack me. He was fine before…even looked after you some…and look at him now…"

"What do you mean, he _was _fine?" Obviously something had pushed her off the deep end.

"About an hour after I brought you here, he started to act strangely. He was mumbling and repeating the same things over and over, like he was in a trance. Then, he was leaning over as if he was in pain. I came over to check on him, and this weird rash started to break out on him. Then, he came at me with a knife. I panicked, and had to shoot him. After being shot, he just got back up and ran at me like it was nothing…it didn't' make any sense…but I had no choice."

At that note, everything seemed to stand still. A strange reality washed over me. Who kept coming at someone after being shot like that? Maybe zombies, but we're obviously not talking about the living dead. More like someone with some strange disease and homicidal tendencies. Perhaps some werid strain of virus. Still, this didn't add up.

"That should have wounded or him or at least kept him down longer, but the first shot only fazed him for a second. He seemed to completely go down after the second shot to the head. It almost as if he …transformed into something. It was the damndest thing I've ever seen. "

She fell silent, looking exasperated. A flicker of shame ran across her face, but I was unsure if it was because she had taken a life or that she hated sounding crazy. She still kept her gun sighted on me. Guess I couldn't blame her, considering the situation.

"Look, even though you're an officer I know you've got to be freaked out. This town…nothing about it seems normal so far. Trust me, I'm scared too. But look…I'm all right. I'm not sprouting any weird rashes or anything. I'm not acting weird."

"How can I be sure you won't? By the way, where's your little girl? I caught a glimpse of you walking around and followed you into that alley. Found you banged up in a dumpster, your little girl was nowhere in sight. Seems right suspicious to me."

"On my way here, someone jumped out in front of my vehicle. It was hard enough to see with this crazy fog and I swerved to miss them and wrecked my car. Luckily, I wasn't hurt too badly. When I came to, my daughter was gone. I've been looking for her ever since. I saw her running down the street and followed her into that alley."

"You mean she wasn't there?"

"No, and it lead to a dead end. No way she could have gotten out of there without having to get past me. Very strange…" I thought about telling her about the child creatures, but it would only make me sound less rational. "I can't reach her on my cell phone because there's no service out here. The bartender…when he was normal, said landlines were out too."

"Did he act strange when you saw him earlier?"

"No, not at all. Seeing him like this...I don't even know what to think of it." Cybil began to relax , and slowly lowered her gun.

"Radio's out on my bike, too. And what's really odd…none of the cars around here will start. It's almost like most everything electrical isn't working….but for some reason my bike runs just fine and the electricity is on in random areas in town. Nobody's answering their door. It's like everybody up and just left…maybe holing up because of the snow. Although why that'd stop 'em from answering their doors I don't know."

"Can you help me find my daughter, then? This town isn't that big, I'm sure we can find her."

"I'm not so sure. With the weather the way it is, and this possible plague or sickness…we might be putting ourselves in danger."

"Oh, is that how it's going to be?" I snapped, feeling the anger rise up within me. "Well, something is better than nothing! I'm sorry if my lost and possibly kidnapped daughter doesn't fit under your To-Do List because you're afraid. I'm quite sure _she's_ afraid, if not terrified! What if she was taken by some sicko who thought they'd take advantage of an injured little girl! This is the only place I've seen with any lights on so if she _did _wander out on her, she'd have come here. You need to do something!"  
"Mr. Mason, please calm down," the officer chastised me. "I know you're concerned, but I've patrolled around this area on foot and haven't seen her or any little girls out."

"Well that means she's still lost. Please help me. You're supposed to serve and protect. Officer Bennett, right?"

"Yes, Cybil Bennett. I'm officially assigned to Brahms, but occasionally I'll get called to Silent Hill if they need an extra hand. That's why I'm here. Our station got reports of lost power all over town, so they sent me to help out with whatever is happening."

"So…you said that you found me earlier?" I started, trying to change the subject. "Where…where was I again?"

"Like I said, you were in an alley near Finch St. I heard a loud noise like something fell and found you inside a dumpster. Why were you in there? "

_It wasn't a dream….was it?_

I shuddered to even think about it. Cybil stared at me, seeming to read my feeling of unsettledness.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Was it really dark or anything when you found me?"

"No, it was just like it is now. Why would you think its dark? And by the way you were moaning and thrashing around in your sleep ever since I brought you back here. Mumbling about demons…are you sure you're okay Mr. Mason? I think you hurt yourself more in that crash than you realized." She furrowed her brows at me, seeming to scrutinize me the way you would a mental patient.

Should I tell her what I saw? The weird sirens, the unexplained instant darkness. _The mutilated corpse and crimson red eyes of demonic children. No…s_he'd think I'm crazy…

"I—I'm fine. Maybe I was just tired and out of it from the crash. I did find something though. Even though Cheryl wasn't there, I did find her pendant. It has a transmitter that I used to track her down. She's somewhere around here. "

"You hit your head pretty good," Cybil interjected. "You really should be more careful next time. Your car wreck, now this…seems like you're an accident waiting to happen."

"Yeah, that's me so far today. I should be more careful. I think I saw her up on the fire escape or something…maybe I did hit my head and too hard and got confused. I'm not entirely sure. Everything seems kinda fuzzy."

Which was only a half lie, I did feel kinda….fuzzy. Yet my memory of the real events was crystal clear. I opened my mouth to speak but paused, not sure how much to divulge. Cybil had a spark of intrigue in her eye, like she was on the brink of catching me in a lie. She was probably reading my body language already to figure me out. Cops were trained on that sort of thing.

"Did you, did you see anything weird there, like a wheelchair or a hospital gurney or anything?" I said, feeling that I could start out with small weird stuff first.

"No, no I didn't. Did you?"

"I...I'm not sure," I decided to give up the idea of telling her what happened. She'd think I was crazy, no matter what I told her…and perhaps I was.

Change of subject.

"Anyway…what should we do now? She can't have gone too far. Will please help me? It's a small town. It shouldn't be too hard. " I asked with a hint of hope. Perhaps after seeing me risk my own life to find my daughter, she would surely do the same.

A look of contemplation passed over her, and her facial expression signified she was starting to cave. "Alright. I'll tell you what. We can ride up and down the main roads, and see if we can find her. We can move slow because of the fog. After that, you're on your own. Sound kosher to you?"

"Very. Let's do it."

After Cybil began to get her coat on, I suddenly realized it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to document this experience, being as I am a journalist and all. I imagined coming back home, laughing to my friends about how I had lost Cheryl, and she ended up being picked up by a town resident who invited her in from the cold the entire time.

Making money off Cheryl's situation seemed wrong, but if everything turned out fine in the end, it wouldn't hurt to at least have an interesting story to tell. And that's what I'm all about-telling stories. And I wanted my mind fresh with details.

I excused myself from Cybil, walked over to the bathroom, and pulled out my voice recorder that I kept with me at all times. I was surprised to find it was still in working condition after being in the crash and my unfortunate fall into the dumpster. _If it actually happened _In fact, there surprisingly weren't really any scuffs or scratches to speak of either. While I was at it, I checked my camera bag, as well. Everything looked fine. I pressed down the Record button and started my narration.

"April 20th, 2001. This is Harry Mason reporting. I've gone on vacation with my daughter Cheryl…or at least that's what I've told her. She's been having night terrors, and it's somehow related to a town called Silent Hill. We traveled here to find out if there's a connection. We planned on spending a three day trip here, a small resort town in northeast region of West Virginia. Everything was fine until we came within five miles of the town.

"A cloaked figure stepped out into the road, and I swerved to avoid it. I woke up later with my car totaled, and my daughter Cheryl missing. I'm now at the Café Stop, a small coffee shop a block or two from the crash site. Inside, I've run into a bartender and Cybil Bennett, a police officer from a nearby town.

"There's a bad snowstorm, and phone lines aren't working. Reportedly the vehicles in the town aren't working either. I had to go out into the night alone to find my daughter. Using a transmitter from the pendant my daughter wears, I was able to track it down to an alleyway. What I found there was some unexplainable phenomena.

I didn;t find Cheryl there. But I…I-I'm not sure what I saw next, but I believe I had an intense hallucination. Either that, or reality as we knew it has kept some surprises from us. I thought that I was attacked by some kind of hellish, demonic monster children…as crazy as that sounds. Right before that, a strange siren went off in the town, and everything completely blacked out, as if night had come in an instant.

"I was knocked unconscious trying to climb a ladder to escape the demon children, and woke up back in the Café Stop, where I met Cybil earlier. I found a dead body of the bartender, who apparently attacked Cybil while I was gone, due to some weird virus that had overtaken him. I don't know what's going on here, but something isn't quite right in this sleepy town…Harry Mason signing off for now."

Five minutes later, Cybil and I had stocked ourselves on supplies and were riding her motorcycle down the main roads of Silent Hill. The streets of Silent Hill were, as the name implied, silent indeed. It wasn't just the alley that was deserted, _it was the entire town. _Even Cybil who was accustomed to the town seemed unsettled by the quietness. There were no sounds of people moving inside or out, or any lights on except street lights. According to my watch, it was only six 'o clock (which didn't seem to make sense for night or day considering the timeline of everything). Either way, there should be something going on in town..but we found none here at all.

"No one seems to be home," Cybil said, seeming to read my mind. All storefronts that we observed were deserted as well; some having small lights near the entrance on, but that was the extent of it. As we scanned the streets, we realized that Silent Hill had a very peculiar aura about it. It wasn't just the appearance; there was this _feeling _in the air. It was impossible to explain, but somehow the air was charged with a heavy, supernatural feeling. Almost like a giant weight pressing on you from all sides. It seemed to press inwards, closing in on you like some invisible vice. Much like the sensation I'd heard of people describing the atmosphere of a haunted house.

I began to think back to the weird incident in the alley, and soon started to believe that that was, perhaps, all just a dream. I was so worn out and stressed from the drive and crash that I simply hallucinated, and climbed into a dumpster like a raving lunatic. Yet, the weight of a small heart pendant told me differently. The memory of those things…it was all too real to me. Couple that with the diseased bartender and unusual snow and fog that both Cybil and I were experiencing…something was definitely going on here.

Cheryl was missing, and I couldn't shake the feeling that something didn't want me to find her. I wouldn't dare tell Cybil that Everything seemed to work out so far, with my help from Cybil. Yet, the strange secrets and ways of Silent Hill once again began to come to the forefront. As we discovered from riding around the town, to Cybil and I's utter surprise, that strange chasms had popped up all over the roads. The first of these we found was the east and west ends of Finney St., on the north end of the town.

I remember the panic that ran through us as we saw the road ending abruptly. Cybil had to fish-tail the bike to avoid sliding into the abyss. She parked her bike nearby, and we both went on foot to inspect the anomaly. There had been no sounds, or any previous indications that an earthquake had occurred. Earthquakes didn't really occur in this region, anyway.

"Have you ever seen anything like it?" Cybil said in wonder. "Seems to go forever, but it could just be the fog that makes it look that way. " I was speechless, and could only nod in agreement.

The road simply dropped off, leaving a dark, misty chasm in its wake. Not wanting to get too close, I kept at least an eight foot distance. Cybil was right though; the chasm was so deep, wide, and long, that no end could be seen in any direction. This chasm could stretch on forever as far as we knew.

I couldn't help but start to feel as if Silent Hill was a living being, that swallowed whole anyone who dared trespass on it. And it didn't want us to leave. It was a devourer of the interlopers, and I was punished because I was an out-of-towner. A trespasser. I imagined a mob of townsfolk wanting to drive us out town with pitchforks in hand. It still seemed better than the weird unexplained events we'd befallen.

Frustrated, we went back east a block, and south down Levin St. We'd have to loop around to find any possible "other end" of the chasms. It'd be interesting to find how far out these quakes had progressed. It still baffled me how such huge chasms could appear without any physical warning. Very supernatural things were happening, and I'd only been here a short amount of time.

As we drove the intersection of Levin and Bloch St., we suddenly felt something stirring beneath us. I yelled at Cybil, warning us that something was happening. She didn't seem to hear me and soon the stirring intensified through the ground, and suddenly it was a rumbling. Without warning, the ground rocked violently, and we were knocked off the bike. We both flew off in opposite directions. The world spun and whirled by at a rate that made me sick for a moment. Soon, I felt the crude asphalt skid against my body, causing me to tumble about five feet from the momentum. Thanks to this, I now hurt not only a little….I hurt alot.

My heart still pounding, I lifted my head just enough to see Cybil lying in a similar fashion about twenty feet out from me.

"Are…you okay?" I attempted to yell, only coming out as a gasp. The wind was knocked out of me, and it hurt to do anything that required more than a whisper. She didn't respond, not surprising due to my lack of volume. I waited ten seconds, and tried to call out again.

"Cybil! Are you okay?" I shouted, much better this time. She raised one arm in the air to signal she was still conscious. Her arm flopped back down to the pavement, indicating she was unable to move. I slowly tried to stand up, feeling the bruises and scrapes stinging my body all over. There were fresh holes in my jeans, and my jacket was well scuffed up.

What was that tremor? And why had it stopped so suddenly? I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and began to walk towards Cybil. Then, the tremor started again.

I rocked forward and backward violently, unable to get my balance equalized. Falling backwards, I was immediately scared, not so much out of my own safety but more so for Cybil, and feeling helpless. She was wounded even worse than I, barely conscious in the middle of an earthquake.

My worst fears were confirmed as the ground rocked even more violently than before, and a loud crack resounded through the air. I suddenly broke out into a run towards Cybil, and realized halfway there that I wouldn't' make it.

A large crack formed in the ground, quickly webbing out between Cybil and I. Before I could even get a third of the way there, a hole began opening up and spreading at a phenomenal rate. I'd done research on earthquakes before, but this was something new. No earthquake had formed a chasm so quickly, at least not that I had ever seen or heard of. Nothing here was normal it seemed.

As my despair for Cybil heightened, I watched the chasm work its way towards her limp body, and felt utter disappointment in myself. In the last three hours, I lost my daughter and now was about to lose an officer whom I had just met. Fortunately for me, Cybil was not taken by the earthquake's chasm.

About a foot away from her unconscious form, the quake stopped just as quickly as it had come, leaving a silence even more eerie than before. My mind began swimming ferociously, trying to wrap any kind of logic for this town. Is this a result of some weird curse, or some crazy biological or ecological experiment? Perhaps the entire town was a giant facility, like _The Truman Show_, where the weather and everything else was carefully controlled. Maybe even now, a camera was watching my every move. I shrugged off the idea. I was just being paranoid…or was I?

I began thinking back to the numerous reportings of occultist groups that was embedded in Silent Hill's history. Many disappearances and murders occurred in this town, and almost all were tied in with cult activity. Perhaps the strange events taking place today were a result of some secret occultist group…but how? Reports of the group had died out long ago, yet the thought still continued to linger in my mind. Any possibility was fair game at this point.

Looking ahead in disbelief, I was now looking at a fifty-foot gap between Cybil and I. There was absolutely nothing that I could do to help her. I could only hope that no more diseased people or strange creatures would find her before me. Sighing, I took the map of the town back out, and tried to find an alternate course.

After marking the blocked areas off, it seemed there another path that looped around to the other side, considering there weren't more obstacles betwee. Without much contemplation, I decided to take it. I worked my way down the streets. Now I had two people to rescue.

This was not my day.

Chapter 2

A deep feeling of agitation filled me. After walking through the streets and planning the path to Cybil, I was once again confronted with another dead end. At the west end of Matheson St. stood another of the giant, endless craters. More exploration proved that even more chasms, almost seemed to be strategically placed, blocking me from multiple sides. What kind of trickery is this, anyway? There was essentially no way for me to get to her, except to cut across somewhere.

So, after an extensive comparison to my map, I found some other routes and areas that I could use to cut across if I understood it correctly. Fortunately, I was right. Northeast of the chasm that separated me and Cybil, I found an area in the street with a high wooden fence. I jumped up and grabbed the edge, and my fingers slipped. Frustrated now, I took five steps back, and sprinted forward, jumping at the right distance away.

This time, I was able to grip the tall wooden plank, using my feet to push myself up and over. Clumsily, I landed on the other side, feeling slightly dazed. The scrapes and bruises from being thrown off the bike were very prevalent again. Groaning as I stood up, I brushed off my clothes and saw that I was in a children's playground area. According to my map, it was some sort of community play area in a cluster of houses.

For no reason, I began to feel very uneasy. In fact, I felt that something was actually in the playground with me, watching me. My hands shaking, I moved my flashlight around the area, lighting up a merry-go-round, a swingset, three spring-loaded horses, and a short slide. Children's play areas were supposed to be very serene and comforting, but in this situation it was more than too eerie for me. Kind of the same effect that clowns have on people; supposed to be happy, but comes off creepy instead. The movie Children of the Corn flashed through my mind, coupled with the image of those devil children.

Pushing the thoughts aside, I walked through carefully moving my light over anything of interest. Yet, something odd happened when I cast my light over the swingset. My phone crackled loudly, making a high-pitched squealing noise. Instantly, I thought of the children being nearby. I swung my flashlight all around me frantically, looking for any red eyes or gray-skinned devils. Nothing.

Sighing, I took my phone back out of my pocket, inspecting it. There was no light flashing on the phone, or any sign that it was being used. I tried to think back to all of the times that I had heard that sound. First, it was in my car. The second time was in the alley, when the evil children had approached. Perhaps it was some kind of supernatural detector. I tried shaking the phone and pressing buttons, but nothing seemed to stop the noise. My phone for conventional purposes wasn't too helpful, but had no trouble crackling around weird phenomena.

Now getting paranoid of giving away my position, I searched for a door or a way out. Soon, my eyes fell upon what looked like a back door. I started towards the door, and noticed the white noise faded with each step I took.

_How odd…_

Now, more curious than afraid, I slowly walked back towards the playground, shining my light for any bumps in the night. Nothing there. Just a simple swing…

_…set._

I paused, looking at the swing closest to me. When my eyes registered the image, I blinked, not sure of what I was seeing. It was still there, so I rubbed my eyes vigorously, and looked back again. The strange sight remained.

What my eyes perceived was a shadowy figure at the swing set. In fact, when I leaned closer in, it almost looked like a _person sitting on the swing_. The strange squealing sound got really loud now as I approached. This had to be the source.

This is incredible! I thought. Perhaps I could get a picture of this, and find out what kind of anomaly was at work at here. As I began taking out my digital camera, I began to actually get excited about this strange scene I was witnessing. Fear was replaced by wonder, and I took a step back to center the shadow in the shot. Now with a good backdrop comparison, I snapped the photo. With excitement now, I pressed the button to preview the picture.

At the precise moment I took the picture, my phone stopped squealing. Perhaps I had appeased whatever this being behind the scenes wanted me to do.

"One more strange fact for the books," I said to myself lethargically as my camera switched modes.

Oh man, this is gonna be good! Not so crazy now, are ya Harry! Weird phenomena in Silent Hill! Strange chasms. Demon children. If I can just prove it…

Of course, they'd probably say it was a trick of the light, but either way I still had a good story to tell. With a whirring noise and blink, the picture popped on my little camera preview screen.

What I saw on the camera horrified me.

Sitting in the swing set, rather than a shadowy ghost figure that I had taken a snapshot of moments before, was instead my daughter Cheryl. My jaw dropped. My throat went dry. This was…inconceivable…

Thinking I must be delusional again, I snapped another photo, just the same as before. Again the same picture of Cheryl, casually sitting in the swing set appeared. Her face was odd though, her expression forlorn and dreamy. I looked back to the actual swing set again, only to see that the shadowy figure on the swing was now gone.

I took out my recorder once again.

"Harry Mason speaking again. The police officer Cybil Bennett and I have traveled through Silent Hill to find my daughter Cheryl. We've found that there are giant chasms all over town. The road simply ends, and they're all over, giving no escape to the town. Nothing makes sense here, but I know for sure that this town is haunted…or cursed. I never believed in ghosts and the supernatural before, but you'd have to be a believer if you saw this.

I think…this town is alive. It's almost a lifeform in of itself. And I don't think it wants us to leave. It needs us here for something, but I don't know what yet.

"While Cybil and I were searching there was an earthquake that knocked us off her motorcycle. A new chasm appeared, separating us. Now, I'm at a children's playground, and found a shadowy figure on the swing set there.

"Every time I stood near the shadow, my phone makes this crazy squealing noise, like it's trying to warn me. It made this noise earlier, when the demon children were near me in the alley. I think maybe it somehow senses things, like paranormal entities. I snapped a picture of the shadow, which somehow stopping the strange noise, but even more disturbing… when I checked the picture of the shadow figure it showed my daughter in the photo. I don't know how to explain any of this!

"I can't prove to anyone that this is real, because now the shadowy figure is gone. No one will believe me. I'm so scared. Nothing even close to this has ever happened to me before."

I paused for a moment, and knew there was nothing more to say. My adrenaline pumping, I put the recorder back into my jacket pocket. As the weight of the recorder fell into the pocket, I somehow had an urgent need to review the recording. After all, there has been weird interference with my devices so far. I'd hate to record all of this only to find it gone. This town had messed up devices such as phones and cars, so why wouldn't it mess up other electronic devices? It was good procedure, anyway

Pulling out my recorder, I began playing it back and everything sounded perfectly clear, which was a great relief to me. Then, at the part where I began talking about the playground, I heard something in the background, something I didn't hear when I had recorded it earlier. I rewound it, turned up the volume, and played it again. Still unsure, I turned the volume as loud as it would go. This time I could hear the noise. It was a voice, and after I understood what the voice said, I was chilled to the bone.

The voice was of Cheryl.

She said, "Help me Daddy."

Chapter 3

**E.V.P.** Electronic Voice Phenomenon-"Any vocal sounds or noise on an audio recording device that cannot be rationally explained to how it was embedded into the audio recording." That was the basic meaning, anyway.

It could mean lots of things. It could be a static interference, or a sudden interruption in an audio recording that can't be explained. But the majority of the time, when someone says they've recorded an EVP, they're referring to a message on the tape that is unexplained but supposed has come from one particular source….ghosts.

Typically how this happens is when someone goes to a location that is said to be haunted, they'll record themselves talking or just dead air, and when they play back their tape they'll hear noises or people speaking that did not hear during the actual recording. Many times they might ask questions and actually get an EVP response.

And this voice…Cheryl's voice, in a normal, sane world, would not exist on this audio recorder. This was a fresh tape, so her voice couldn't have bled through either

Every core of my body and every inch of my skin was covered in goose bumps. It felt like a blizzard was blowing all around me. I was too scared to move, even to breathe.

Tears began to well up in my eyes. Was my daughter dead? Had Cheryl been abducted and killed my some sicko hours ago and now her spirit was trying to tell me what happened to her? In a madhouse of a town like this, I began to believe it was possible. A father's worst fears are hopefuly never actualized. I stiffened, trying my best to stifle my crying. I had to hold myself together for her; at least until I knew for sure what happened to her.

Or maybe this was all a bad dream? Maybe I would wake up any time at some hospital and have Cheryl beside me. Considering I was in a bad crash, it seemed more plausible I was living one big, weird nightmare and everything was fine in the real world. If only I could just wake from this dream. Yet as far as I knew, this world was the real one for now.

After a moment, I was able to hold it all together. I had to be strong if I was going to survive this, (psychologically at the least) and if anything at all, I could help Cybil before anything else happened to her. She had almost killed herself trying to help me, so I could at least return the favor.

Taking in a slow breath, I rechecked my map again, and turned to go through the door I had previously chosen to traverse. Yet, a sudden creaking noise made me think otherwise. The source of the noise was from the merry-go-round I had previously scanned over. Angry at being scared by something so stupid, I walked over to the merry-go-round to kick it out of anger when my light shined on a flat, rectangular object on the ground.

Laying between the open space between the bars of the merry-go-round, sitting half-way on the edge, was a sketchbook. It was open, and I snatched it up, keeping my thumb on the open page. Checking the front cover, I recognized the doodling on the front. Cheryl's sketchbook! Cheryl had been here, too!

I opened the book back to the aforesaid dusty page which displayed a picture of a square building with multiple windows and an unknown girl skipping towards it. A sign on the grass near the building spelled out the word "Midwich." Recognizing the name, I skimmed over my map and found it in moments. It was a western road in this area. Upon scanning the map further, I found that Midwich was also a school. So, the little girl in the picture was going to MIdwich Elementary School…

Was Cheryl trying to tell me that she was going to the Midwich Elementary School here? But why, she's never been here before, so how could she have even known about it? Why isn't Cheryl staying in one spot? Perhaps, being a child, she associated the school as a place she felt familiar with. School was one of the places she went to everyday, but still it just seemed too unnatural for a child to wander around in a town she's never been before.

Perhaps too, every other place she's gone to was filled with these insane demon-children and thought that the school would be safer. I chuckled darkly at the thought: If any demon children were actually here at Silent Hill, they would be at an Elementary School, wouldn't they?

Then again, not a lot of things here at Silent Hill have made much sense. And why leave a cryptic drawing? I guess aside from everything I'd seen, Cheryl leaving me notes in the form of drawings didn't seem too off-kilter.

So now I had two choices. Find a way to Midwich, or continue my trek to help Cybil. Some hard-pressed decisions now lay before me. After a moment of weighing the options, I decided it best to help Cybil. I couldn't be too far away from where she was, and she could be an immense aid in helping me find Cheryl. (And not to mention the fact that no demon children had shown up when I was with her. It wasn't for very long but I'll still consider her a good luck charm at this point. And any less chances that I would run into them was a good one…that demon children shit was just creepy.

I was euphorically relieved to find the door was unlocked, and felt good knowing I was back inside. Being on the streets of Silent Hill was very unnerving. I felt so out in the open and exposed. Who knows what number of horrors roamed the streets, lurking in the shadows. Inside, there was no heavy fog that shielded your view from any adversaries. I felt safer, more secure here.

I glanced around at all the numerous dusty boxes and metal shelving. Apparently, I was in the back storage area of a store, but there was none listed on the map. Perhaps it had closed down? I wouldn't be surprised, because I'd heard that some stores that were damaged in a fire were never torn down but never re-built, like some sort of monument to the lives of those taken in the great fire. Most people would just build a statue or a plaque for tragedies, but I guess everyone had their own way of doing things.

Searching around, I found a safe deposit box that was left wide open. Inside, the only items that I could find were loose papers, receipts, and other printed transactions and financial paraphernalia. The apple of my eye at this moment consisted of a trigger and ammunition. Yet, I couldn't get my hopes too high at this moment. They'd only be let down in this "Fun House" of a town.

I worked my way to the front of the store, letting my flashlight do the viewing for me. Though it was light enough outside at the moment, it was uncomfortably dark in this power outage. My light guided me to the front counter area, where I found two items of interest. They were laid so well out in the open, it almost seemed as if…someone had intentionally placed them there.

The first was a piece of paper, which I picked up to investigate. The other item was, to my sheer joy, a HP Browning handgun. The note read:

_"Harry. I'm doing fine. Holding my own. Got to this store, with the door hanging wide open. Found this gun under the counter. Unfortunately it's not loaded. Trying to find my way back, and remembered I have a friend on 1600 Levin St. His name is John Bagwell. Meet me there if you find this."_ Relief was the _only _word to describe my feeling then. Things were finally starting to look up. I had a gun (though unloaded), Cybil wasn't hurt, and we had some direction to go. From Cybil's friend's house on Levin St., we could work out a plan.

Feeling much better, I shoved the handgun through the back of my belt loop, and tucked the note into my coat pocket. With my memory, I would quickly forget the address, especially under stressful times like these.

"If Cybil was able to get into here, then I can get to her, too." I started to the front door, and found that it wouldn't open. The doorknob turned fine, but the door still wouldn't move. No wait, it was jammed. I put all my weight against the door, shoving as hard as I could, but the door was warped, too big to match the doorframe.

"She must have closed it on her way out," I thought aloud. Now the door was stuck, and we were separated. Many times when I was a kid and forgot to close doors, I would hear that familiar phrase, "Close that door! Were you born in a barn?" At this moment I wished that Cybil _had _been born in a barn.

I kicked at the door, tried to pry it open with a metal bar, but nothing seemed to work. Exhausted, I decided that it wasn't meant for us to find each other. Not yet, at least. All the same though, the newfound hope of knowing someone in town seemed to lift my spirits.

My lifted spirits carried me out of the store, back the way I came, and into the children's playground area. Just as I stepped outside, a familiar noise made itself more than clear.

As the light outside began to quickly fade, once again that old familiar tune of a siren began to play. To me, it was a dirge of death. Remembering what happened last time the siren went off, I lunged at the wooden fence I hopped over earlier, and found that I couldn't reach it from this side. The ground was lower.

"Calm down, Harry. It's just getting darker. You're going to be fine." Taking my flashlight back out, I began swiveling my light around the area, looking for a way to get out. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I noticed a short tree not far from the fence. I could easily climb it and jump over.

Gripping my flashlight between my teeth, I hoisted myself up on a limb, and began my ascent to the third branch, which would provide access over the fence. Just as I thought that I was out of this mess completely, I heard the sound of shattering glass come from inside the store. Panic seizing me, I knew instantly that this was _not _Cheryl or Cybil.

Something was coming for me.

Chapter 4

My fear kick-starting to a climax, I quickly clawed my way up to the third branch, and launched myself over the fence. While my leap was quite graceful, my landing was not.

I attempted to tuck into a roll, but instead only succeeded in slamming onto my side.

Hot jolts of pain shot up through my knee. I hissed through my teeth, clutching my knee. All other past injuries were brought back yet again. If supernatural monsters didn't kill me, I'd kill myself before all of this was over.

Yet, I was quickly motivated to keep moving when I heard the backdoor of the store burst open. The next sound I heard was of children laughing. The sound after that was of feet scrabbling towards the fence I had just so nimbly hopped over. My knee shooting pain all the way the up to my hip, I stood up and began bolting my way west to the intersection of Levin and Bloch, where I would turn north. Yet, my run was more of a hobble at this moment.

The sound of the children's laughter continued to get closer, but I didn't dare look behind me. As I continued running I could hear "Them" talking to me. "Daddy! Come back!" "Wait for me!" They pleaded. "Play with us!"

Being the stupid son of a gun that I am, I shot a glance behind me. The first thing that I saw was those horrible, crimson eyes. There were about five pairs of those horrible eyes, seeming to pierce through the darkness of the night/day, or whatever the hell it was. Their grayish color was just as it was before, showing various scars and other signs of abuse and peels of torn, rotting flesh. Their arms were outstretched as they ran, hoping to grasp me as they ran in a stumbling fashion.

And those teeth…those horrible, corroded teeth that were set in uneven serrated rows.

So here I was, limping as fast as I was able, knowing that eventually these damned Children of the Damned were going to be gnawing at my flesh before long. The pain in my leg was suddenly not a factor. I had to book it.

My endorphins beginning to do the work for me, I was able to make more headway, staying in front of the soulless children. Every store I passed looked empty, and I didn't want to chance trying the door and find it locked, wasting precious time. Then, I saw my saving grace. A school bus.

The irony was enough to chuckle softly under my breath. I saw immediately that the door was open, so I skipped two steps up into the bus, and wheeled around to the driver's seat. I grabbed the driver's door handles and swung the doors shut with a hard pull. Unoiled hinges squealed, but the doors did their appointed job nonetheless. Now, I at least had some time to gather my thoughts if the children were able to make it inside the bus.

Scanning frantically, I suddenly realized that there would most likely be absolutely nothing in a school bus that could aid me in defending myself. My gun was less than useless, considering I had no ammunition for it. And that was even if they could be killed.

I searched anyway, finding nothing but loose papers, some with names of children written on them. Probably on the way to Midwich Elementary…and perhaps the bus was worth a try to drive. Alas, my fear was confirmed, and after the third attempt, I realized that this bus was not going to start.

I had no choice now but to wait, and hope these_...freaks _would not be able to sense me, or…smell me or locate by whatever means they used. I didn't know anything about them and I don't think I'm good enough at pistol-whipping to take them down. I waited, knowing that they couldn't be too far behind me. I was right.

Peering cautiously out the window, I soon began to make out five grey, short figures. Their red eyes were a stark contrast to the white, wintry night. Without my flashlight they seemed to be pairs of red eyes floating around in the mist. At least it wouldn't be too hard to see them coming…

They ambled around, very different from before. When they had sensed me before and so had moved very particular towards their goal. Now, they seemed to wander, like lost sheep wondering where their shepherd had left them.

As they drew closer, I could see them in more detail than before. Their skin looked so _wrong. _Finally,I could place what it was. I got the impression that they had been in a really bad fire, and pieces of flesh had been burned away, leaving scar tissue behind. It was unsettling, thinking of children burnt alive, and brought back by some dark incantation. Of course, I had no idea if that's what they were, but hearing them refer to me as their "Daddy," In that childlike voice…it made my blood run ice cold.

Then, one of them snapped their heads in my direction.

_ohcrapohcrapohcraphohcrap_

I reacted instantly, ducking down behind the seat. Fearing they might climb up to the window to peer in, I sunk down even further, burrowing underneath the seat. This proved to be quite the feat, considering the small amount of space provided. They were meant for children, after all.

I could hear their eerie voices again, calling for me

"Daddy, are you there?" One asked dreamily. I stopped breathing, for fear they could smell my breath. I could hear the soft patter of hands on glass. They must be trying to get in! Beads of sweat formed on my head, slowly dripping down. I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing them away.

_Miles away, in a hospital bed, a little girl lay in agony and pain. She was sleeping, having a dreadful nightmare about creatures and horrible monsters. Her own spirit-being manifested these terrible occurrences, using an unknown force to create these horrors, bringing them to life._

_ Then, her spirit felt a kind, gentle force come to her. It was the spirit of a man. The feeling of his spirit was very benevolent. The power of this force fought the nightmares, wishing them away. The nightmare was ending. Temporarily, she would be at peace._

I lied there, unsure for how long, waiting for the sound of claws on the windows again. For the cold, clammy hands to reach under the seat and grab my ankles, and pull me out kicking and screaming. I would feel their serrated, corroded teeth sink into my flesh but…it never happened…

After what seemed like an eternity, I uncovered my eyes. The sound of the children's investigation had halted. Yet I was still wary, careful not to move too quickly. In a manner that was painstakingly too slow, I crawled out from underneath the seat, my ears constantly on full alert. Fortunately, the only sound I heard was my body scooting out from under the seat. I got up, and snuck a glance out the window. To my deepest satisfaction, I saw that the darkness was gone and the misty snow continued to come down outside, with no signs of the cursed children around.

As I stood up, my eyes caught something I didn't see earlier. A piece of paper was sitting on the seat, looking wrinkled and tossed about. My hand reached down and picked it up without even thinking about it.

The picture was of an empty doghouse, with an arrow pointing to the inside. A sign nearby said "BEWARE OF DOG." Strange. There was no dog in the picture, so why did it state to "beware" of one? Then, I noticed the paper was the same size as Cheryl's…notebook. Cheryl must have been here too, unless it was just a really weird coincidence. Then again, I don't think coincidences existed in this town.

Looking carefully at the picture, I noticed that a sign in the background said Levin St. I wonder if this is the same house as Cybil's friend on Levin Street? Could it be? There was only one way to find out.

I made my way (cautiously) out of the bus, and found that the demon children were gone for good. For now, at least. After checking my map again, I headed north on Levin St., watching as the numbers counted down to 1600.

After five minutes' time, I had found the address. I noticed the BEWARE OF DOG sign sitting out in the yard, right in the same location as Cheryl's drawing. How in the world could Cheryl have drawn that without having been here first? There was no other explanation. She had to have been here. My spirits started to lift a little bit. Perhaps she had already been here, and was waiting safely inside. I could only hope.

I sauntered on down the driveway, feeling that luck was possibly coming my way for once. Then, out of nowhere, I heard a low growl, the sudden scampering of pawas, and a huge Rottweiler came roaring towards me.

Chapter 5

Its funny how in situations where you feel totally paralyzed mentally that your body will sometimes react on its own, as if on auto-pilot. Your brain tells you to freeze in horror, but your body will redirect you out of dangers way. That's exactly what happened next.

The sound of paws squishing against the dewy grass was there in a split second, moving fast and determined. I panicked, not able to tell where the sound was coming from. The fog's dampening field make it hard to figure out where sounds were coming from, and the next I saw a large dog bounding for me. Without even thinking, I leapt backwards. The jump wasn't graceful, and I ended up falling backwards, my butt planted in the grass. Yet, my earlier comment on luck was still right on target. The dog lunged at me, but stopped short by three inches on account of a metal chain attached to its collar.

With a whine, the dog snapped back from the tension on the chain. I had just come inches from being a doggy treat for Mr. Rotti. Perhaps I should have BEWARED more than I did. I could see spittle coming from the sides of its mouth, the teeth still rared back in a challenging grimace.

"Rocko! Settle down now!" A voice from my left called. I looked up to see a man's head sticking out of his door, gazing out toward the dog. In an instant, the guard dog ducked its head down, and retreated to its dog house in shame.

"Hey there, man! You okay?" The man called out to me, starting out the door toward me. He was a middle-aged man, in his late thirties. His hair was short and reddish-blonde, parted to the side in a bad comb over. His face was deeply lined, as if he was older than he really ought to be. His brow was creased in concern.

"Yes, yes I am," I explained, dusting myself off. "Well, as good as I can be right now. I just got a little scared, that's all." The man looked relieved at my well state, but his demeanor quickly changed.

"Did you see the sign?" He asked, pointing to the oh-so-obvious sign out in the middle of his lawn. The question was condescending, stated rhetorically in a smarmy way.

"Yes, sir," I returned, feeling awkward. "I, I just thought he'd be visible if he was here, ya know? Guess he was snoozing when I first got here. Thought he might have been inside."

"Well, you need to pay more attention," he said, sounding annoyed. "But I guess you didn't see him at first cuz of the fog. Damn thing's messed up everything up around here. It came at the same time as the snow. Weird stuff. Everyone complains about the dog, but then again it wouldn't be a problem if they paid attention, right?" He tapped the sign with his forefinger. What his obsession with the dog and the sign? I get it… we need to beware of your dog.

"I guess not, sir. You're…you're John, right?"

"Yes, I am. And who are you? How'd you know my name? You're not from around here, right? I'd know you if you lived here. Silent Hill ain't too big, ya know?"

"No, sir. I'm not from around here. I'm actually a journalist from Virignia."  
"Reporter?! Well, if this is about my dog, let me tell you that I have a right to protect my yard! Don't ask me no questions, because this is America and…"  
"Sir, this is not about your dog!" I started to yell, getting frustrated at this man's stupid fixation with his dog, be he Cybil's friend or not. "I'm looking for my daughter Cheryl. She's been missing for the past four hours or so. I was wondering if you've seen her." I pulled out a photo from my pocket, and showed it to him. He leaned forward, narrowing his eyes in concentration on the photograph.

"Naw, haven't seen her. I've been inside all day. Snow and ice…don't like all that stuff. Jes' makes ye wanna stay inside and drink coffee, ya know? So, your daughter's missing?"

"Yes, sir. I…I actually got in a wreck driving here."

"A wreck?! Well, dang son I can tell. You're lookin' quite scuffed up and mighty tired. I suppose I'd look tired too if I had a daughter and she went up missing. I'll keep an eye out for her, though."

"Look, sir," I started. "My friend says she knows you. Her name's Cybil Bennett, a police officer over in Brahms."

The man's eyes lit up. "Oh, Cybil! Yeah, I know her! We grew up together here! She decided to move to a little bit bigger town, so there's more stuff to do, you know? A police officer here'd be a waste of time."

"Waste of time? You don't have any crime in Silent Hill?"

"No sir." His eyes suddenly shifted, as if he was trying to think something through. "Nothing bad happened here in years! I mean, we do have police here, though. Occasional break-in every now and then, but that's about it!" The change in his compsure suggested he was holding something back.

"So, Cybil hasn't come by here at all?"

"No, sir-ree. Hasn't seen ol' Cybil in three months. She was supposed to be coming by sometime and seeing me in February. Why you ask?"

"Well, she was going to meet me here. I think she wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, okay," he said agreeingly, and then his brow furrowed. "What's that got to do with you? How do you two know each other?" This question took me off guard. I hadn't really prepared for this. It was time for me to explain…without sounding bat crazy.

"I uh, ran into Cybil after my wreck. She got…distracted with some other things here in town before she could really help me look for my daughter, but she did mention that she was going to come talk to you. Thought if I hung out here then she could kill two birds with one stone."

"Sounds fair enough. Say, why don't you come inside, then? It's mighty chilly out there," John invited me in. With the temperature the way it was, I couldn't argue with him too much, so I stepped inside with ease. It was a good feeling, knowing that Cybil and I weren't the only life in this town.

Inside, I saw that John's home was not very big. The entire house consisted of a short hallway, a small den area, a tiny kitchen, and two rooms.

"It ain't much, but it's home," he stated simply, seeming to read my thoughts. "Hey, you wanna see something neat?" He turned into the first room on the right, leading into his bedroom. How strange to have a bedroom closet to the front door. Even house setups were strange in this sleepy town.

He opened the door, and pointed right above his bed, where a sheathed sword was mounted on the wall.

"That right there, is a katana from 1412. Samurais actually used that sword. Pretty cool, huh? Cost me a fortune to get it." I stepped in closer, inspecting it. Why a country bumpkin like John was interested in katanas was beyond me. Then again, people probably thought reoccurring nightmares and seven year olds that talk about weird towns in their sleep is pretty strange, too.

"John, can I ask you a question?" I began, not sure how to begin. I had to bring up the strange occurrences in town, but without seeming insane. Perhaps John knew something that I didn't.

"Yeah, I guess so." I began pondering how to rephrase everything.

"You know the uh…town's history, right? With the...cult and everything?" At the immediate mention, John began to look uncomfortable.

"Yeah, sure. Everybody knows that."

"Well, those cults are gone and everything, right? I mean, I know there could be some, but…I'm a journalist so naturally I read up on places before I visit. There was a lot of weird occult activity here from what I read."

"Oh yeah, yeah. There was. Not anymore though. They died out years ago. Haven't seen anything weird myself. Why you ask?"

"It's just…since I've gotten here. I got this…this sense that something is not quite right about this town. There's been weird things happening here."  
"Oh, yeah. Like what?" He began to start to look really uncomfortable now, but he crossed his arms to put up a false bravado, almost as if saying, "Prove it, buddy."

"Well, since I've got here…I really haven't seen anyone. I mean…not _any_body. All the doors are locked to everyone's houses, pretty much. Most of their lights are out, which is probably due to the lack of electricity for areas , I guess. It's just that…I haven't seen anyone since I've been here except Cybil and a bartender. She said she even tried knocking on a lot of doors , and got no answers. It's like the town is….dead. I'm afraid…I'm afraid that something bad has happened to my daughter, that's all…"

I decided it would be best to leave it at that. If he knew anything, this would be enough to get him talking.

"Well…" John started hesitantly. "I guess I can tell you, and don't be alarmed. This is just a fact, alright? People here…are very different, see. When people disappear in other towns, there's a big search and rescue operation. When someone disappears in Silent Hill…" He looked out into the distance, contemplating his words.

"When people disappear here, it's for a reason. No one really looks into it, because if they disappear, then its meant to happen, see? It's just something that happens. It's been ordained." I listened to his words, trying to take it in. No one looks for missing persons in Silent Hill because it's ordained? Sounds like a word uses mostly by churches

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Well, a lot of history books tell you that the cults left Silent Hill. That's…not entirely true. We…we have a group still here. They're called The Order," he looked down, looking ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry, it's just that, I feel odd telling an outsider this. The Order, they uh…kind of run things around here."

"Run things?"

John took a paranoid glance around the room.

"Yeah, they have a big say in this town. They're not real keen to outsiders, so they probably wouldn't like you very much. In fact, they probably wouldn't even like me telling you about it. They try to keep everything in-house, if ya know what I mean." He stopped talking, and gazed out into the distance. It almost seemed as if John was telling me a dirty secret or something.

"Do you think…they have my daughter?"

"I wouldn't put it past them. They try to really influence the younger kids to their ways. I don't think they'd ever go after someone for no reason, but if they saw a little girl wandering the streets, they'd probably take her in. Just based on opportunity and motives. Dahlia…Dahlia's real good at talking to people. Real persuasive. you know."

"Dahlia? Who's Dahlia?" John got a shocked expression like he couldn't believe what he just said.

"Dahlia Gillespie. She's the…she's the head of The Order. You wouldn't dare cross her."

"Why?"

"Dahlia is not someone you want on your bad side. She's a very powerful person here. People who cross her…they tend to …disappear."

Underground cults? Demon children? EVP's and ghost-daughter pictures? So much for the sleepy, lake resort town.

"Well…I guess that idea of strange events aren't too far fetched," I said dreamily, thinking back to all of the supernatural events that had occurred in the last couple of hours.

"So, you've seen things?" He said, his eyes showing a sign of curiosity mixed with suspicion.

"Yes, if by things you mean things that are not natural, or not even possible. I've seen things…things that defy the existence of what we know." A look of recognition dawned in John's face.

"Yes, it must be beginning now. And there's nothing we can do to stop it. It was bound to happen…sooner or later…" He suddenly got a far-off look, as if making a connection or affirmation of something he had wondered for a long time. His eyes seemed spacey, deep in lost thought.

"What is happening, John?"

"Silent Hill is alive, Mr. Mason. The stories are all true. The cultist activities have placed a curse on this town. Things have taken place over time and now has suddenly broken through. I believe it has something to do with you, Mr. Mason. Perhaps even your daughter."

"My daughter? We've never even…"

Suddenly, the thought of finding Cheryl on the side of the road seven years ago came to mind.

"My daughter…we found her on the mountain-side road near this town seven years ago. You don't…know anything about that, do you?"

"Mr. Mason. I'm not a betting man, but I bet that you have to be somehow connected to this madness. If you're the key to starting this mess, then you're the key to stopping it. I will help you find your daughter, but all the same, I won't put myself in any danger." He glanced toward the kitchen windows. "If you're going to find your daughter, we need to act quick. Where have you looked?"

I quickly went over the details of my venture thus far, discussing the cryptic notes left by Cheryl, including the strange photograph experience I had in the playground.

"Jeez. I've heard some strange things, but…"

"How can I get to Midwich from here? All the other roads are blocked off."

"The door in the kitchen," he started, pointing towards the back door. "Leads to my backyard. I always keep it locked, but it's a really old door that only locks with a key on the inside and outside, so I need to get the key from the doghouse. Can you go get it for me?"

For a split second, I thought I saw a sly smile play across his lips, one full of malice and conspiracy.

"What? With your dog out there?" I said incredulously. The image appeared in my mind of that huge Rottweiler lunging at me, his teeth searching for my throat.

"He's all right. Just give him this," he got up and reached into a cabinet nearby, and pulled out a small dog treat. He threw it to me, and nodded.

"You don't have nothing to worry about, Mr. Mason. Ol' Rocko is harmless. He's just protective of his yard, that's all." I couldn't believe he was asking me to do this! Why couldn't he get his own damn key!

"Why don't you get it? It's your dog!"

"Do you want me to help you or not?!" Why was he being so insistent about this? I couldn't help but feel suspicious.

I stood there, furious with the only man who could help me at this point. Huffing, I stormed outside, peering out into the yard before I walked much further. The coast was clear.

"Here, boy. Here Rocko," I said, more a plea than a call. I sounded like a scared five-year old boy. To my surprise, the tredding of the dog's paws never came. I cautiously tip-toed toward the doghouse that was around the bend of the house. As I approached the dog's dwelling, I saw that it was exactly as Cheryl had drawn it.

Weird. No dog.

I looked down at the shackle that had once been chained to the monstrous Rottweiler's neck. It lay bare inside the doghouse, as if Rocko had taken it off himself as he lay inside. There were no signs of a broken chain or anything…

Kneeling down, I scooted myself under the doghouse, and reached my arm inside, feeling around the edges for the cool touch of metal. My fingers grasped the smooth texture of a plastic case, and I pulled. There was a slight pull back, and after I brought the case out of the doghouse, I realized that it was a plastic case with a magnet glued to one side.

Clever way to hide a key. And that's even if they get past the dog. I pulled at the sides, opening it up to reveal a shiny, golden key.

_Then, the siren sounded again. Light soon began to fade at a rapid, unnatural pace._

I stood up quickly, knowing all too well what this meant. Discarding the plastic case on the ground, I strode towards the front door of the yard.

_Grrrrrrr…._

A low growl stopped me in my tracks. This was a reaction I had learned from multiple people, stating to not run from a dog because it will trigger the dog's instinct to chase. When I looked behind me to glance at the dog, which I presumed to be Rocko, I soon wished I hadn't.

The dog was now only a simply a shadow of Rocko's former self. He was bigger than before (if that was possible) and his fur looked matted, almost as if it was caked in some kind of suspicious substance. Random spots of fur were missing, showing black and gray-spotted scar tissue. It was not a dog anymore. It was an abomination, some sort of hellhound. It smelled rank, like old garbage and rotten meat. Drool dripped silently from its gaping mouth, spotted red with blood. Faintly, I wondered if it had killed someone already, and had a full enough belly to leave me alone. But that was only wishful thinking…

BOOKMARK!

A thought of the scenes in movies, which were supposed to be comical, popped in my mind. The villain, caught by the dog, stood perfectly still while smiling at the dog, saying "Nice doggie," in a soft tone while holding their hands out but low. I pictured myself doing this same thing, in the same fashion. Yet, in this situation, there was nothing funny at all.

Without warning, the dog suddenly took off towards me. Knowing it was too late, I pivoted and sprinted towards the front door.

Any slack and I was a bag of kibbles.

In a blur of seconds, I was reaching out and grabbing the door knob and twisting and pushing inward, and then falling. It all seemed to happen at one time. I stumbled, and fell inside, panic seizing my heart. The dog was gaining on me, only three feet from me.

It was too late to stand up, so I kicked the door with my foot, slamming it closed. At the exact moment it closed, I heard a loud thud and a yelp from outside the door. Jumping up, I seized the door's lock bar and rammed it into place. All was safe. For now.

"Hey!" A shout came from the kitchen. John was suddenly there, wielding a baseball bat.

"You're a little late, friend," I muttered. "It'd have been nice if I had someone with me out there. I almost got killed."

"What? Rocko attacked you?" I shook my head vehemently, my eyes glaring at him in accusation.

"Whatever that thing was, if it used to be Rocko, it wasn't Rocko anymore. It was…one of those things."

John fell silent, his bat slowly lowering as if in defeat. I said nothing, knowing that he must be filled with sorrow at the prospect of his dog being transformed into one of those monsters. We stood there for a moment, taking in the momentary silence.

I expected to hear the the monster dog clawing at the door, but it never came. It was must have retreated, knowing it was defeated for now. I had to find something for my gun.

"Look, I know you're sad, John. But we've got to keep going. I got the key, so I can keep looking for Cheryl."

"Go on your own!" John shouted, his voice quivering with sadness. "Find your own damn daughter! I'm staying here."

"You said you'd help…"

"I know what I said! I don't care anymore. That dog…he was the only thing I cared about in this madness of a town! Everything else is null and void. You can just go on by yourself. Take this with you, at least."

He held the bat out towards me, offering for me to take it. I accepted it hesitantly, not sure if he was going to hit me with it in his distraught state. He never did, so I continued.

I got out my phone in silence, and compared it to the map. The school was about 2 miles southwest from here. If I ran, I could probably make it without running into any trouble. At least, I _hoped _I could.

Solemnly, John saluted me and sulked back into a nearby room.

I went over to the back door, stuck the key into the lock, and turned it. An audible click resided, and I put the key on the counter. Readying myself, I clutched the bat like a policeman clutching his gun in a hostage situation. The moment of truth was near.

I sighed, sucked in a deep breath, turned the knob, and stepped out into the unknown once again.

**Part III: School's In Session**

Chapter 1

I stepped into the frosty night air, taking in the cold wind and damp fog. Thinking back to the events that had unfolded, I couldn't help but think that the town itself wasn't the only thing wrong. The people here…they didn't seem quite right. It was if they were acting different, like some unseen force was driving their actions.

_The town was making them that way…_

John's reaction to his dog's transformation was quite an eye-opener to the townspeople's strange temperament. He seemed afraid as if something else was to follow.

_Maybe he's turning into one of those things, like with the infected bartender that Cybil had to shoot_.

Perhaps he was. And perhaps he knew it, and knew that staying away from me was the best thing he could do for me. After all, he seemed to know an awful lot about what was going on here. John was knowledgeable, but was he too knowledgeable? Was he somehow involved? Maybe John was part of the Order, even. I was never sure of what to think anymore, especially here.

John's backyard was a simple square of fence, encompassing about thirty square feet. There was a simple picnic table to my right, with various tools such as a hammer, nails, and some boards of wood. John must have been working on some kind of project back here. Vaguely, I wondered if he would ever stay alive long enough to ever finish…

Ahead of me, I noticed a loose board in the fence. It must have been the only way to get out, because there was no door made into the fence. I pushed it forward, opening up a hole just big enough for me to squeeze my 160-pound frame into. With much grunting involved, I burrowed my way through the hole in the fence, and was out the other side in only a few moments' time. I was now in a short alleyway area, leading out into a shorter stretch of road that was adjacent to Midwich St. There wasn't much to see here on the unnamed road, save for trashcans, storage paddocks, and back areas of some stores. I felt on edge here, in a back street area, reminded quickly of the children from before. Yet, nothing kept me from getting to where I was going.

Even after I reached the point that the side street intersected with Matheson, and as I headed west to the intersection of Midwich and Matheson, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. It was simply me traversing the old roads of Silent Hill, accompanied by a flashlight and a baseball bat. All I had to do was head south, and I would reach my destination.

This area was very similar to Levin St., with mainly houses and some small stores. It was definitely more of a residential area. I let my flashlight's beam flow naturally over everything, trying to take my entire environment in, rather than being too focused on where I was going. I didn't want to be get bum rushed by any more ghastly creatures. I shuddered at the thought of entering the school. Dozens of evil school children would probably be waiting for me there, their eyes ablaze with crimson luminescence. It was almost like something right out of a child's nightmare

I learned by observing the various stores and locales that Silent Hill had indeed burnt down not long ago. At certain areas, there were still scorch marks and other tell-tale signs of a fire. In fact, there were numerous empty shops that had been abandoned completely, perhaps to honor those that died some eight years ago. Either that, or nobody wanted to bother restoring it. Of course, the great fire was a part of the town's history, just like the odd activities of the resident cult groups.

A sense of loneliness began to wash over me, and suddenly I felt abandoned, helpless. It was only me, Harry Mason, in the midst of a wistful town filled with unspeakable horrors. Nothing to worry about, right? Feelings of despair and futility enveloped me, very similar to how the very fog of this forlorn city seemed to envelop me physically.

Nevertheless, I pushed on despite the weighty feeling of the fog pressing onto me, trying to swallow me whole.

Intermission I

"Now, let's stop for a moment," Ingram said, in a most polite manner. "These feelings that you described just now. You have stated before that these feelings still affect you, yes?"

"Y-yes," I stammered. "It's…it's like this intense loneliness that eats away at you. It drains your spirit, your drive. Almost the very core of your being. Thinking back on it now, I really do believe that the fog in that town was somehow cursed. It was what kept that town so silent, so oppressed, if you will. It affects the people of that town, making them subjective to sin, bad decisions, selfishness, you name it. It makes you weak, vulnerable. The fog, it…it just consumes you. It's not only around you, but it gets in you, as well. Clouds your senses, even."

"Does it make you depressed, Harry?"

"Yes! Absolutely. It feels like in some moments, that the fog is back. Even after escaping that Hell of a town, the fog stays with me. It's a permanent scar, a reminder of my experience. Silent Hill never wants me to forget. I left that town, but in a way, the town never left me." A surprised look came upon the psychiatrists face.

"Interesting insight. Very poetically stated, Mr. Mason."

"I am a journalist, don't forget."

"Quite right, Mr. Mason. The feelings you've explained are very reminiscent of symptoms of depression. Now, does this 'fog' seem to have you right now?"

I pause, for I didn't think about those feelings at this point in time. Then, if I had to think about whether those feelings were present, obviously they weren't.

"No, it's not, actually. Talking about what happened helps. It's repressing the memory that brings the loneliness sometimes. It was harder when we told no one, Cybil and I. It feeds off your silence, I believe. Strange, huh? Knowing the town's name is Silent Hill. You need to break the silence.

"It's kind of like the feeling when others don't believe me, or when things in life seem crazy or out of order, is when the 'fog' creeps in on me. It's almost as if I can _feel _negative energy from the world around me. Can you relate to this, doctor?"

"Interestingly enough, I think that every one can feel this. It's similar to intuition. We simply sense something from a person or place. In physical/psychological terms, it is when a person with acute senses picks up on negative manifesto in the very environment around them. I wouldn't label you crazy for that, Mr. Mason."

I let out a small burst of laughter, a nervous one, but a very hard laughter nonetheless.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Ingram. It's just that, I'm shocked you haven't said that I'm crazy yet."

"You're shocked that I don't think you're crazy. And why is that?"

"You obviously haven't heard my entire story before…"

Back To Silent Hill

"_Midwich Elementary School" _was written in chipped, cryptic letters on a large wooden sign. It was weird that, even though the town had been restored the past seven years, that so many things in the town seemed to be so ancient. It was like time seemed to stand still. Then again, not everything was caught in the fire and had to be replaced. I then noticed the establishment date. "Built in 1941."

What an old school! I thought. You don't see too many schools that were built so long ago nowadays, and if you did, usually they were restored to a more contemporary look. But not this one.

The school loomed in front of me, like a great monstrous being that dared me to go inside. As intimidating as it was, it also fascinated me. I could feel the years, the history screaming out from the school. So many things had happened here, whether they be good or bad. The school almost seemed to…_invite _me.

"You know what else invites people in?" I said to myself. "Vampires. They're known to be very hospitable…at a price"

I took a step forward, feeling very unsure of my course of action.

Then…a random thought scurried across my mind. I remembered watching the movie "Village of the Damned," and something clicked. The name of the town was Midwich. A chill traveled through me, but the rational part of my mind told me, "Harry, it's just a coincidence. Both sides of my brain were hard at work, trying to tell me their opinion of this matter. When it came to this, the third voice mattered. The voice that convinced me that Cheryl needed me.

I used that motivation to save my daughter to carry me up the school steps, each new step a little easier than the last. Before I knew it, I was at the top, standing before a set of double-doors. This was it. Play time was over.

My bat at the ready, I pushed in the long, rectangular bar lock on the doors, and made my way in. Just like the streets of Silent Hill, the school was also unnaturally silent. The smell of ancient wood filled my nostrils, and I could tell that this wood was not manufactured in some factory. It was built with real tree wood, probably from the town itself no doubt. And it was also very dusty.

The first detail about the school that really stood out to me was how empty and utterly abandoned it felt. Not the fact that it was unoccupied, it was the fact that it seemed to have been unoccupied for years! Dust collected heavily in the corners, sitting on top of wooden benches and a heavy musty scent filled the air, overpowering the wood smell.

"No school like the old school," I muttered.

A circular-shaped space in front of me served as the lobby, featuring a pedestal with a school trophy encased in glass. A bulletin board was posted up on the right side, containing various memos, notices, schedules, and a large map of the school. The map stood out among the rest, the Golden Ticke.

Looking at the map, I noticed the hallways formed a perimeter around the courtyard in the middle; a very common layout for elementary schools. Stairs were stationed at each corner of the hallways, all leading up to the 2nd floor.

Where do I start? Cheryl could be anywhere in here. No time to stop and make decisions, I just needed to go. Maybe something at the front desk could give me a clue. Walking towards the courtyard area doors, I turned the corner to the left, approaching the main office desk. As I expected, no one was there.

Mail was packed into a metal bin with the words "IN" scratched in bold letters on the left side of the desk. A phone sat unused on the cradle, a fine layer of dust formed around it. Haven't these people ever heard of a janitor? Even schools that went unused had a caretaker or someone come in and keep it up, but this school was supposed to be in use! Had the school been closed down since the fire? No, John would have mentioned that…

A yellow memo pad rested on the edge of the desk, an ink pen sitting atop. Near that memo pad was a laminated piece of paper with teacher's names (listed alphabetically), their extensions, and room numbers.

Two names stood out in bold print among them:

5\. Dahlia Gillespie

6\. K. Gordon

The name triggered everything that John had said about her. _"She's the leader of the Order. No one would ever dare cross her."_

It also made sense…an elementary school teacher who recruits children to the Order's ways.

Room number 12. On the east end of the school, 1st floor. Simple enough, I guess.

Knowing I had no other choice or leads, that was where I needed to go. Perhaps Cheryl would be there. Maybe she knew that was where she was going, so she had marked her name. All these theories in mind, I went to the right, and through another set of double-doors into the east hallway.

The second I went through the doors, I felt an internal alarm within me being set off. My flashlight scanned the floors, walls, and ceiling all around in me. There was nothing in sight. My hands felt shaky, making the light bob slightly as I moved it through the air. Why was I freaking out? It felt like someone was standing right beside me. Attempting to brush the queer feeling off of me, I continued down the hall, counting the numbers down from room number 20 to 12.

Each classroom door stood open, revealing the empty contents therein. Not a single sign of life was found. Powdery white chalkboards stood abandoned with fragments of words or phrases that had been erased. Random pieces of balled-up paper and trash were strewn into the hallway. Pieces of broken wood and shattered glass from random casings lay on the hallway floor. I began to wonder if people had vandalized the school at some time.

As I made my way down the hallway, I kept moving my flashlight behind me or to my right randomly. That feeling of space being occupied near you never left as I continued. This town was really starting to get to me. Finally, I reached Room 12.

Peering in, I noticed the room was set up just the same as the others. When I entered the room, I was abruptly shocked by the familiar squealing noise from my phone. It didn't slowly build like last time. It rose to a strident, high-decibel instantly. Clutching my ears, I turned and backed out of the room. The screeching noise faded away. I remembered this same situation earlier.

Taking out my camera, I tried to frame the shot of the entire classroom as best I could. Anxious more of fear this time, I went back to look at the photo I'd just taken. There on the display screen of my camera, was a picture of a classroom full of children, all looking forward. Except for…Cheryl?

I looked in closer to be sure, though I already knew who it was going to be. It in fact was Cheryl, but she looked slightly different. I'm not sure how to explain it, but she had changed. She was looking down at her desk instead of to the front like the other children. The teacher, who I assumed to be Ms. Gillespie, had her side to me, pointing out towards the classroom. Wait…not just at the class. She was pointing at Cheryl. Noting the teacher's posture, I sensed that the teacher was calling Cheryl out, or perhaps even chastising her. What in the world was Cheryl doing in this photo with all these children?

Referencing the picture to the classroom, I found what desk I believed to be Cheryl's…if it ever _was _Cheryl's. To my disbelief, strange words and pictures were carved into the top of the desk. "Thief," "Stop," and "Witch" were only a few words that were carved into the desk. Mystified by the words' meaning, I opened the top of the desk, and found a lone, leather-bound book with the title "Paranormal Science" written across the faded front cover. The book was open to page 23, and contained the following contents

" CHAPTER 3: MANIFESTATIONS OF DELUSIONS

...Poltergeists are among these.

Negative emotions, like fear, worry, or stress manifest unto external energy with physical effects.

Nightmares have, in some cases, been shown to trigger them. However, one such phenomena doesn't appear to happen to just anyone. Although it's not entirely clear why, adolescents, especially girls, are prone to such occurrences."

Why was a seven-year old reading such a book? Where did she find it? Had it been in the school library, and she was using it for class? Glancing back at the photo, I noticed that Cheryl wasn't just looking down, she was reading. I surmised that this book was the book she was reading in the photograph, and perhaps the teacher was chastising her for reading it in class. None of this helped me any in finding Cheryl. The question still remained: _Where is she?_

Suddenly, my phone began to crackle, emitting sharp pops of static. I looked up, and saw a shadow.

But the shadow wasn't mine…and it was moving

I froze instantly, trying only to move my eyes. Skimming the entire room, I saw that there was no one else in here. Nothing was creating the dark outline, and so the shadow itself was being of its own.

It was tall and lanky, its body stretching to odd proportions that didn't seem to fit a normal human shape. Where the eyes would be in a person was simply two round deviations in the shadow. The shadow creature took a step toward me, and my phone started to crackle louder. I began to feel weak, like I did earlier outside with the fog. The creature continued to walk towards me, and with every step it took, I began to feel weaker. I couldn't explain it completely, but it felt as if my energy were being drained from me by this creature.

An image of Frodo Baggins, cowering from the tall figure of a Ring Wraith from Lord of the Rings, came to me very vividly at that moment. The name fit. This _wraith _continued to amble towards me, moving very deliberately, yet awkward in nature.

I wanted to run, and scream so badly, but I felt like I couldn't. This thing seemed to have me hypnotized, to have me crippled in fear. Now it was only five feet from me, and its fuzzy, crackly shape was more detailed than ever. The form almost looked distorted, like the snowy static of a dysfunctional TV. It reached its arm toward me, seeming to beckon me closer, but I did not oblige. All I could do was stand there. My phone was screeching now, a high whining of an amplifier with too much interference.

Then the voices came.

_Give up, Harry. You'll never make it._

_ She's already dead._

_ No use in trying, there's nothing you can do._

_ Just let go, it'll be easier this way._

My legs felt too weak and I fell to one knee. This creature was draining the life out of me! What could I do? Random thoughts of theories and various ramblings I heard about ghosts and spirits came back. None of them contained anything that I could do to fight a spirit such as this, then I remembered something from the book I just read that gave me an idea.

According to the book ghosts are believed to be created or powered by one's negative energy or emotion, therefore positive energy or emotions should have an adverse effect. With this in mind, I had a plan.

Immediately, I began to think of Cheryl, about how much I loved her and cared for her. I thought of the happiest memories we had. Once, Cheryl had brought a lizard in from outside, and showed it to me inside the house. Jodie came in, and screamed at the sight of the lizard. She ordered that we to get rid of it immediately, but Cheryl- being the fun-loving child that she was- ran towards her with it instead. The next five minutes consisted of Cheryl chasing Jodie around the house, with Jodie screaming to get away and Cheryl's bright, beaming smile and giddy laughter. Meanwhile, I could hardly breathe from laughing so hard. Jodie was fuming mad all the while, yelling hysterically at the lizard.

Another memory. Jodie and I had arrived at the hotel for our honeymoon. Before we made love that night, I had written her a poem, telling her everything that she meant to me. Also, I had given her a silver locket that had been passed down through the family. My mother had planned on passing hers down to a daughter, but I was the only child. Therefore, I told her that I would give it to Jodie, and pass it to her child. I'd given it to her that night, telling her how much it meant. She wept happily on my shoulder, with the combination of starting our new life together and receiving this gift as a tangible acceptance of the family. It was a very strong moment.

Instantly, I began to feel different. That loneliness, the intense negativity that I had first experienced from the fog, began to lift. Even my feeling of sudden exhaustion started to fade, and I stared down the shadow creature before me. It began to waver a bit, and started becoming very unsteady on its feet. I felt my determination building, fueling me and I focused all of my memories and hope as if I was piercing it with my own emotional energy. It staggered back, and had to hold on to the wall to keep itself from toppling over.

It seemed these positive, happy memories were diminishing the wraith, and its power over me was waning. It started quivering violently, and pieces of it started to break away, falling to the floor and evaporating. I walked even closer to it, showing that I wasn't afraid of it. Before long, it screamed a low, guttural noise and in seconds was completely gone.

What manner of creature was that? I thought. Silent Hill had thrown me a curve ball just when I thought I'd seen it all. A creature that fed on its victims' negative energy, thus crippling its opponent. A worthy adversary, I had to admit. With the creature gone, I continued searching for clues.

There was nothing scribbled on the chalkboard in the room to tell me anything and there was nothing else left in Cheryl's desk. I walked to the teacher's desk, and checked the drawers. Inside the upper left drawer, I found a slip of paper for the class roster. Cheryl's name wasn't there. None of the students' names looked familiar, and I stopped near the middle section.

"Alessa Gillespie."

Could that be Dahila's daughter? If so, I'm sure she would be quite the character, considering her mother's reputation. Perhaps she was even alive in the town now, lost and confused as I was. Of course, there wasn't really anybody in the town to speak of. But, I had to stay positive. Obviously, some people were still here. There was John Bagwell, and the bartender. For all I knew, there were countless others still left in the town, huddling indoors with their lights out and doors locked so as not to attract any of the monsters.

Not sure of what to do next, I decided I could try using the tape recorder as I did earlier, and see if Cheryl's voice would show up with a clue once again. The creepiness of the whole phenomenon gave me chills at the very thought, but I didn't want to waste any time blundering through the whole school any longer than I had to. Time wasted may be time left for Cheryl's safety….or life.

Trembling, I pulled out my recorder and began to reiterate the events that had recently transpired. I played it back, and this time the voice came near the beginning. It was louder this time, but raspier, harder to understand.

I played it back, trying to decipher the words. It sounded like a whisper, only louder, like a stage whisper. Over and over again, I listened, but couldn't get the words. Finally, I decided I would take a more direct approach.

"Cheryl….this is your daddy," I felt ridiculous doing this, but my situation wasn't exactly sensical, anyway. "Cheryl…sweetie…if you can hear me. what is it that you want me to do?" I paused for a moment, giving her a chance to respond, and stopped the tape. I rewound it, and listened to the message again. This is exactly how it came back.

"Cheryl…sweetie…if you can hear me. what is it that you want me to do?" There was a long pause, and then Cheryl's voice shattered the silence.

_"RUN, DADDY! RUN NOW!"_

Outside the classroom, I suddenly heard a low rumbling noise, followed by the sound of chairs being pulled over, doors being slammed, and glass breaking. After mere seconds it sounded like a hurricane tearing through the school. I decided quickly that I would heed Cheryl's advice.

Something was coming, and I was more than sure that it was coming for me.

Chapter 2

I dropped my bat and tore off, almost in a blind panic.

The school around me was nothing but a misty blur, and I didn't really take in much of what was going on around me. I just ran, and ran hard.

The noises behind me persisted, trying to catch up to me. It sounded like a chainsaw ripping through wood, hammers crashing through walls, and an explosion all at once. I never looked back to see what exactly was happening. I was too afraid. The only thing I cared about was getting away.

I went around the corner first, and flew down the long hallway, the escalating chaos ensuing. Remembering the layout of the map, I was almost to the end of the hall when I decided I would simply loop around the school back to the entrance and leave. Yet, I never made it that far.

When I came to the door separating the north end hallway from the west end, I felt the dreaded weight of the door push back at me when I shoved the lock bar to open it. It was locked, not loose enough to break in. It was locked tight as if it was deadbolted and I didn't have much time.

Panicking, I looked back and realized that I had passed the courtyard door. I could use it to cut through to the entrance! A newfound hope in me, I rushed forward, only to be met by the source of the destruction behind me. The thing that pursued me rounded the corner, moving at an unnatural speed. It was not a monster or a creature. I'm not even sure if it was a being at all. It was simply a huge wave of fire, nothing more and nothing less. It was like an explosion had gone off in the school, and the ball of fire rushed through the hallways, demolishing everything as it went.

A lump caught in my throat, knowing my exit was blocked now. It was moving too fast, and I couldn't take a chance. I shot a glance to my right. The door nearest me was locked, and the next closest option was in front of me leading into the west wing. If this door was locked, I was fried. With Lady Luck on my side, I found it unlocked and tumbled through with ease. I lunged out into the west hallway, and my eye caught the flight of stairs that led up to the second floor. It was close, so I took my chances with it. Perhaps this thing couldn't travel up stairs, anyway. Either way, I had no time to think too much about I just had to act.

My feet pounded on the stairs, taking them two at a time. I heard the sounds of wood crashing and splintering as I reached the second floor. I kept moving, not daring to look back again. I was only too sure that the massive ball of fire would follow me up here.

Briefly running through the layout of the school in my head, I felt sure there was another set of stairs that led back down to the 1st floor. If I moved fast enough, I could probably reach it and work my way around this destructive fireball. I tried the door to my left that would lead me to the middle area of the north wing, but it was locked, so I ran south.

I kept moving, not even paying attention if the deadly anomaly was still there or not. All I cared about was putting as much space between it and me as possible. I got all the way to the south end of the west hallway, and tried the doors there.

Shit! Locked…

Much to my dismay, the loud whooshing sound of a fast moving object resided behind me. I looked to see the deadly weapon coming at me like a missile. To my left, I saw a door with the sign of a boy, the boy's bathroom.

The horrific fireball rocketed towards me still as I dashed across the hall, flying through the bathroom door.

A great feeling of cool air in the bathroom settled on me instantly, but the relief of shutting the door behind me was even greater. There was nothing I could bar the door with, so I ran to the stall furthest from the door, opened it, threw myself inside, and waited.

It was all I could do.

Seconds ticked by. Nothing.

Minutes. Still nothing.

The deafening noises from earlier had ceased. Ever so slowly, I creaked open the door and looked out to see an empty bathroom. No monsters. No ghosts. With a sigh, I came out of the stall and felt the sweat accumulating on my forehead. Some cold water would give me some relief.

Still peering to my left towards the door on occasion, I stepped over to the sink and ran the cold water. With a sigh of relief, I saw that the water was not only working, but that it was normal. Letting it run for a second, I cupped my hands and splashed it onto my face. A feeling of refreshment spread over me. This water felt the same way a cool drink feels after being out in the hot sun in July. I let out a deep breath, my nerves settling.

I looked back up at the mirror, and immediately jumped back. Something was _very _wrong.

When I looked back at my reflection, I saw myself, untainted and normal looking. However, everything else was far from normal. Instead of seeing the chipped, molded bathroom that was actually behind me, I saw a…a darker more sinister version of the bathroom.

The floor, walls, and ceiling were covered in rust, looking grimy, almost as if acid had been poured on it. Blood spatters and spots were scattered randomly about. Something was seriously wrong.

Some funhouse mirrors warped and distorted what was actually there, but this…this was something entirely different. It was like seeing this room in another dimension. I remembered hearing strange theories in quantum physics about alternate dimensions and realities, and this seemed to actualize it. Shaking my head, I refused to believe what I was seeing. These things just weren't possible. Then again…

Before I could take another step back, the siren came again, and bringing with it only God knows what. The room began to spin, and I fell in a state of vertigo. My equilibrium was completely unstable, and it felt like the wailing siren was _inside _my head. It was so…_loud. _The sound made me clutch my ears in pain and curl into a fetal position. All I could do was close my eyes and try to block out the noise. It was like trying to cure a horrible migraine…I just wanted….no, _needed_ darkness and silence, but the pain in my head was so severe all I could do was writhe on the floor. Before long, I blacked out from the pain.

Chapter 3

"Cheryl!" I cried, sitting up. Opening my eyes, I realized that I'd been dreaming…until I saw the bathroom walls. This time, the strange alternate version of the bathroom was not only in the mirror. It was all reality.

Terrified, I jumped up and backed against the door of a closed stall. Now the image in the mirror truly reflected where I was. A bathroom covered in blood and rust. I felt dirty simply looking at everything, like I shouldn't touch anything for fear of catching a disease.

"DHEC would have a field day with this," I thought. Unsure of what to do, I unwittingly sunk back to the floor. Those sirens, they must have changed this school. It turned this place in a darker form of its original self, like an evil twin. What kind of dark powers were at work here? There was a bigger picture here, but I wasn't seeing it yet. I had to find out more.

Thoughts of running out of the school screaming seemed very favorable to me, until I heard the sound of crying. It nearly put me in a coma with shock, lifting me off of my feet once again. The first thing that came to my mind was the fleshy gray faces of those children, but after I moment I began to feel differently.

Was that Cheryl?

"Cheryl?" I whispered almost inaudibly. There was no answer. I called her name again, a little louder, but still no answer. If this were one of those monsters, it would have come out and attacked me by now.

_"Harry, go over there and open the stall, dammit!"_ I yelled to myself. There may be a lost child in there, alone and even more afraid than you!

"Yeah, that's exactly what They would want me to think," I said out loud, surprising myself a bit. So, with an attitude of hope and dread, I walked over to the stall and knocked.

"Hello? Is someone in there?" The crying ceased. "Hello?" There was no answer once again.

"Whoever you are, it's alright. I'm here to help. My name's Harry Mason. I'm going to come in, is that okay?" Still no reply, which made me even more uneasy. Gritting my teeth, I pushed open the stall door and what I saw next still haunts me to this very day.

Inside the stall was John Bagwell, but this time it was a very _dead _John Bagwell. His arms were tied behind his back, wrapped around the bottom of the toilet's commode. And he wasn't just tied with ropes or straps—no, that would be _entirely _too normal-he was tied down with razor-sharp barbed wire. My stomach lurched at the sight. John's mouth hung open wide, razor wire looping through his cheeks and coming out of his mouth.

I ran to the next stall and heaved up what was left in my stomach, which was not much. It had been a while since I'd paid homage to the Porcelain God. Spots appeared before my eyes, making it hard to see for a moment. I sat for the next two minutes, trying to regain my composure.

"This turned out to be one hell of a vacation," I thought to myself as I clutched the sides of the toilet lip.

Definitely _not _what I had in mind.

_Click, click, click._

Foothalls resounded nearby, and I whipped my head around, catching only a mere glimpse of a blue dress. My nausea instantaneously gone, I stumbled out of the stall to see a faded image (a ghost?) of Cheryl walking towards the back wall of the bathroom. Though, after seeing her more closely, I wasn't entirely sure it was Cheryl anymore.

She looked around her, as if making sure the coast was clear. Then, she reached her arm into the wall (seeming to grab some invisible door), pulled her arm back, and disappeared into the wall itself. I stared for a moment, muddled and curious all at once. Was there a hidden door here at some point?

I moved toward the wall, inspecting the bricks for any cracks or subtle lines, but found none. I turned, my light moving with me, and something white reflected off the light. I looked over into the stall, and noticed a small piece of chalk in the hand of my very-deceased friend. On the floor beside the corpse was a piece of Cheryl's sketchbook paper.

Being wary of touching the limp corpse, I reached down and plucked the chalk out of John's hand, and slid the sketchbook paper off the floor, being quiet for fear of disturbing John's sleep. Who knew how long the dead stayed that way here. It only took me a moment to piece together everything, after looking at the paper.

On the piece of paper was a drawing of a girl (Cheryl?) drawing a chalk outline of a door on a brick wall, even detailed with a little doorknob.

I shakily pressed the chalk against the rusty brick wall, and lightly traced a rectangular outline on the wall. After finishing the doorknob, I reached out to grab it. As my hand touched the brick around the circle for the doorknob, I felt the wall move back some. A thin ray of light now encased the outline. I had to squint my eyes to adjust to the brightness. This light seemed very intense compared to the new darkness in this rustic, "bizarro" world I had discovered.

As the light grew to its brightest, the wall swung open. revealing a small room within. The light faded out quickly, leaving me back in the darkness.

I hesitated. How do I know this isn't some kind of trap? What if I stepped in, and the brick wall closed behind me, trapping me in my own tomb to never be found like an Edgar Allen Poe tale?

Putting my fear on hold, I aimed my light straight ahead and stepped in. Finding Cheryl was the only thing that mattered, and always was since I'd arrived. No point in chickening out now.

What I saw left me speechless.

It was a sanctuary. Small candles were spread out through the closet-like space, apparently used to see in this enclosed room. Pictures of a little girl, who looked _way _too much like Cheryl, were in several places on a shelf. This must be Alessa. Upon picking up a picture, I saw that the girl apparently home with the teacher Dahlia Gillespie. So it was for certain now. This girl who looked remarkably like Cheryl was Alessa, and they were mother and daughter. Yet, the looks on their faces told a different tale.

In one photo, Dahlia stood next to Alessa in front of what was apparently their house. Teir facial expressions were unnerving. Alessa's face was gaunt, brooding frown with empty, sad eyes. It was the face akin to an abused or beaten child. Dahlia's expression on the other hand, was a smile, but unlike a normal smile. It was a sly grin, the kind that seems to ironically say, "I've got a secret, and I'm not telling." Odd it sounds, the essence of these two beings seemed to emanate from the photograph itself and penetrate my soul.

It was too much, so I put the photo down. There were other items of interest in the room. A teddy bear, which was used and neglected. There were some crayons and….a sketchbook? I snatched it up off the desk area, and opened it up. The contents made me shiver. I flipped the page, and still I shivered. Every drawing told a tale of its own.

One picture was of three children, surrounding a girl that resembled Alessa, but the children were drawn with red shiny eyes. Another was of a house with smoke billowing from it, and flames licking the rooftop. A third was a shadow-man, much like the one that I encountered in the classroom.

The last page showed a blood-stained bed, a drip stand, and the words "Alchemilla" written across the top. Three demons, one wearing an orderly uniform, and another in a business suit, stood watch over her. The third stood out the most. She stood mostly in the background, but it had long, gray hair. It was dressed in some kind of robe of some sort. It was a children's drawing, so some details were unclear.

The name Alchemilla stood out to me at once. It was important obviously, and the picture implied it was at a hospital. The only fact that seemed to fit, considering the trail of clues I'd followed thus far, was that this Alchemilla Hospital was important. But where was it? I pulled my map out of my coat pocket, and could find nowhere that showed such a place. Looking at the map, on the eastern side was a label that said "Central Silent Hill." That was the only other place to go, but I had to find a way to get there.

As much as I hated it, I still needed to find Cybil, but there were no leads left. And Cybil wasn't where I left her, and there was no point in getting myself lost trying to find her. She obviously had been taking care of herself. Besides, she was a cop, and was trained to be tough and to handle extreme situations. Cheryl was still my number one priority.

Slipping the sketchbook into my other coat pocket, I immediately turned around, suddenly feeling the urge to leave Midwich Elementary. I made my way back out the hidden room door, and back into the hallway. As I passed the extremely dead corpse of John Bagwell, I felt a cold chill remind me of what could possibly happen to me, or even worse, Cheryl. Upon leaving the restroom and seeing the rest of the school, my breath was immediately taken away.

The rest of the school was a derelict, as well. Where lockers and wall had once been was replaced by chain-link fence. Even the now-chain-link floors were not spared from this transformation. There seemed to be no end beyond the fence or any support underneath. It was if I was in a gigantic chain-linked cage suspended in the middle of nowhere. I felt like hyperventilating, so instead I focused on moving. Just put one foot in front of the other and don't look down. I strode through the hallway unopposed as I made my way to the stairwell.

I carefully tip-toed down the eroded, blood-stained stairwell. There was no sign of that insane fireball anomaly. Perhaps that was what fried the school, and made it look like this? Either way, I had to get out of here. Now downstairs, I realized it would be much quicker to simply cut across the courtyard area to the exit. Thus, I turned to my right and found that there were still double doors leading out to it.

With a click of the bar and a push, I was out into the open courtyard of the school. The night sky couldn't have possibly been any darker. Had I not had my flashlight with me, I wouldn't have been able to see an inch from my own face. I ran my flashlight over a pair of wooden benches that looked hundreds of years old. Dead remnants of what were once shrubs and bushes sat in the corners of the yard. The only remnants left were sticks. A lone clocktower was posted on the southeastern corner of the yard. What a strange place for a clocktower…

As I stepped out from under the canopy near the double-doors, I felt small pitters of rain on my head. It was drizzling, just enough to irritate me. It reminded me how effective the Chinese Water Torture was. Grimacing, I started across the yard, picking up my speed some. I noticed there was a very large hopscotch set up in the middle of the courtyard as I passed, drawn in red which I assumed to be blood. I shuddered and dismissed any attention to it. Childrens' activities were obviously not out of reach for this dark transformation. As I approached the double-doors at the other end, I took one last look back to make sure nothing was following me, only to have a synapse firing off in my brain. It was something about the hopscotch markings.

I turned back around, aiming my flashlight at the red lines in the courtyard, and suddenly realized, further away from the middle, that it was not hopscotch at all. Drawn in red was a gigantic pentagram. I studied it for a minute, and saw that it was _glowing_. A faint crimson light seemed to pulse from it, getting a little bit brighter each time.

Then, the most astonishing thing happened. In the middle of the pentagram, a ghostly figure of a girl clad in a blue dress appeared. Not Cheryl…

"Are you Alessa?" I called, not able to come up with anything else to say. She had her back to me, and only turned her head. It was the same girl from the pictures. Then, she turned back around, and ran towards the end I had just come from.

"Wait!" I called, and ran toward her. But before I even reached halfway, she had dissipated into the air. This girl was leading me all around the place, but ran when I tried to talk to her. I always thought that apparitions wanted to be contacted.

Or maybe she did…but something was keeping her from doing so. Only more questions and not really any answers. Feeling defeated, I sighed and looked down at the pentagram, reminded of the glowing red embers of a dying fire. I took a moment to simply let my mind empty itself, relaxing. This was not the time to get frustrated, but simply to collect myself and press on. What other choice did I have, anyway?

A vibration in my coat pocket went off, and I almost fell with shock. It was only my phone…

"Cheryl!" I said, whipping out the phone and answering quickly. There was no number on the caller ID.

"Daddy…"I heard Cheryl whisper.

"Cheryl! Where are you? Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"….daddy! Help me!"

"Cheryl! Stay where you are! I'm coming for you!"

"…dad…."

And then her voice was cut off.

"Cheryl!" The sound of a dial tone droned, and I felt worry creep across my chest. At least I knew Cheryl was out there, but where? Obviously she had access to a phone, maybe at a hospital…

I turned back around to continue leaving the school, when I heard the double doors behind me click, and begin to creak open. A moment of exhilaration filled my heart. It must be Cheryl! Maybe she _was_ here after all!

To my utter horror, I turned to find the pin-cushioned corpse of John Bagwell greeting me with a malignant grin. He stood at the doorway for a moment, his milky white eyes showing no sign of life. But I knew where because I could feel it. His gaze was fixed right at me.

"You…" He hissed through his teeth, and he took a shambling step toward me. "You left me to die!" John continued his zombie-like walk, made very awkward by all the razor-wire and knives protruding from his body.

"Not my fault! You wouldn't leave!" I shouted, beginning to step backwards towards the exit. "I tried to talk you into it, but you wouldn't come! You were too grieved over that stupid dog!" My voice had an angry pitch to it, but I knew, and I'm sure John knew, that I was petrified of him. I kept slowly walking backwards, afraid to keep my eyes off of him.

"You…ssssshould have made me," he said again, in his snake-like voice. His right arm was held out, beckoning me to approach me.

"How about thissssss. I forgive you. All you have to do isssss….give me a hug. Let's….._bury _the hatchet….ssssshall we?" He lurched further towards me, both of his arms open now. Had this been a horror movie, the way he shambled towards me would also seem comical. Yet, the flashlight's glint off of the blades surrounding his body and the horrendous cuts and gashes told me otherwise.

"No!" I shouted, and broke out into a run. My hands were already in front me, shoving into the bar when I reached the door. The door rattled harshly, but the opposing force shoved me back. The door was locked from the other side.

Chapter 4

Panicking, I watched as the ambling figure of John Bagwell wobbled toward me, looking like a gothic pin-cushion with legs. He grinned as he came nearer, his yellow-stained teeth opening, and a forked tongue flicking out from between them.

"Atta boy," he jeered. "Just let daddy Bagwell get you. It's so much easier this way." I felt a strange feeling of terror and guilt wash over me, seeming to almost hypnotize me. At the last moment before he reach me, I turned and thrust my fist through the window. Shards of glass peppered the floor of the hallway inside. I could feel pieces of glass sticking into my hand, but I didn't care.

I reached through and pushed the bar on the other side towards me. With an audible _click_, the lock was released, and I half-fell into the hallway. Behind me, I could see John still amble towards me, that sneer still etched onto his face.

"What's 'a matter, Harry? You don't want a hug?" He seemed offended and hurt by the ridiculous notino of me hugging him. I scrambled to my feet, and booked it to the exit straight back. With a turn of the knob, I found that it was also locked. I stood back, full of determination, and kicked with all the force I had. The door didn't even budge. Behind me, the pin-cushioned corpse still progressed, not willing to give up the chase for anything.

"You left me, Harry….you left me to die!" The reanimated corpse recanted, but this time the voice was different. It was so familiar, yet….it was plainly obvious. John was now speaking with the voice of…of Jodie.

For a moment, I was filled with an utter dread and guilt that I'd never felt so strong before.

"I thought…I thought you loved me, Harry! You were supposed to be there for me! Now I'm all alone…all alone!"

"No, I…I didn't _want _you to die! I,I did everything I could …."

"No! No you didn't! You were too worried about your booze and going out!"

"It's not like that, Jodie! I-I-I had to get away! I worked and still came home and sat with you! I had to get SOME time for myself, didn't I? I still needed some downtime to-to help _deal _with it. You think it was easy for me?" I really didn't understand what I was doing…engaging in conversation with this thing. But for a moment, I almost felt like I was really talking to her.

"That's easy for you to say, Harry! You weren't the one in pain, and dying!"

"I-I-I know you were in pain, honey. It took everything in me to be strong….to be at your side. All I wanted was for you to get better, but….there wasn't any chance. The doctors caught it too late."

"But you still left me! Had you stayed with me more, maybe I could have gotten better!"  
"I'm….I'm sorry, Jodie," I was now feeling the hot tears stinging my eyes, feeling wracked with guilt for my misgivings.

"You said you would be there. Every step of the way, and you weren't, Harry! You weren't." Then, something clicked inside my head. Jodie would never say this to me, she would understand that I needed some time. I had put so much time in just sitting and watch her waste away, and it was hard , almost more painful that way.

"….I was there for you, Jodie. And you were in pain, but I'm still dying now because I lost you. But…I have to let you go now."

I almost gave in to its tricks. What was I even doing, talking to this monstrosity? It was using my guilt of my own dead wife to distract me to get closer. At that point of epiphony, something happened. Something changed. Something snapped within me.

. Seeing this abominal thing that wanted to make me suffer, mentally and physically, when I had done no wrong. It infuriated me. I suddenly felt no fear. Only justice.

Looking nearby, I saw a fire extinguisher sitting in a case against the wall, the glass already broken. I wasn't running anymore, I had to fight back. I reached inside the case, took the extinguisher out, and wielded it with both hands. I approached the grotesque being. My blood pumped wildly, filling it with adrenaline. I felt like I was on top of the world, like I _was _the world and everything in it all at once.

"Get back!" I ordered, raising the weapon. This monster, this _thing _was not going to stop me. All my life, I detested violence. I was a peaceful man, and even wrote stories to shock people of the violence of this world. But when it came down to it, I had fears. And when I was afraid of something, I many times ran. But in this moment, I only sought to fight. To protect my own daughter from whatever this existence brought on. If that meant I had to beat this thing to death, I would do it, and gladly at that.

"Harry…you wouldn't hurt me, would you?!" It sounded hurt and appaled at my bellowing.

"You are NOT Jodie! I said to move!"

The monster furrowed his gaze and regained his former creepy tone. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Harry! We're just having too much fun!"" A flare of determination ignited within me. I was going to beat this monsters' ass to oblivion.

"I'll show you fun, asshole!" I yelled back, a fury rising and finally bubbling over in me, one that I had not known before. Suddenly, the fire extinguisher was completely weightless in my hands.

Without a second's hesitation, I effortlessly heaved the extinguisher into the monstrosity's face. I heard a crack of bones, and the monster leaned back, trying to pinwheel its arm for balance, and finally teetered over onto its back.

I felt good. Very good. Better than I'd felt in a long time. For once, I felt like I was standing up to my fears. And this thing that seemed to embody any guilt I had over Jodie, was about to meet its end. I looked down on the monster that now looked like a helpless turtle. A huge gash was now on its face, gushing rivulets of blood. I reached over and picked the extinguisher back up.

"Ooh hoo, looks like things got a bit Harry!" He giggled, as if he had cracked a particularly good joke.

"No, it's just getting there," I said gruffly. I raised the extinguisher back up, and for a moment the monster's face contained a surprised stare, as if taken aback by the continuation of my assault. I slammed the extinguisher back down on its face with a heavy force, splintering more bones and splashing blood everywhere. The blood was on the floor, on my shoes, on my shirt. And I didn't care one bit.

"Ooh! You've got some fight in you!" He snickered, thrashing on the floor excitedly. It was all a ruse, because I could see the slight grimace that I recognized as pain in its face. I was going to punish this thing, this abomination. I would make it hurt so bad, it couldn't even pretend to not enjoy this.

As I continued my bludgeoning of this creature, time seemed to go past in a blur. It was a strange feeling, almost like an out-of-body experience. The moment was so intense and so surreal, that it was as if I was watching myself from the outside bludgeon this evil creature. Yet, it wasn't just a beating, it was a sweet release.

In this one moment, I could feel a well of frustration, anger, anxiety, dismay, dashed hopes, and so many other emotions come to the forefront. I felt abandoned, scared for Cheryl, worried about Cybil, and other countless trials for me physically, mentally, and emotionally. After a moment, I heard someone shouting, and then realized that it was me. I had let it all out on this creature, sending it back to hell where it belonged.

When I suddenly realized that it was _me _screaming, I stopped. Then I started to come back down. My consciousness felt the pull of gravity and I was like I was back in my own body again. My body went still and the extinguisher slipped through my fingers and fell to the floor with a loud CL_ANG. _I stood there, feeling so extremely tired yet, so alive. Almost as if I was being born again, a rebirth.

I dropped to my knees, sucking in deep, quick gulps of air. My heart rate was still pumping wildly, and it hurt my chest. I looked over at the creature, seeing that it was shallowly gasping for air. The thing was on its last wind, and even then didn't have much left. Slowly, the creature stopped moving, and I lost it.

I wasn't sure why…just the weight of it all. Hot tears stung my eyes and rolled down my cheeks, and I weeped until I felt satiated.

At that very moment I was done, I heard the wail of the siren come again, and everything went black again…

INTERMISSION

"So, Mr. Mason. Tell me about this out-of-body experience. I find this quite intriguing," Dr. Ingram leaned forward, his index finger and thumb holding his jaw in concentration.

"Well, Doc…I've heard before about this happening in very intense or moments of heightened feeling. That moment I felt an awesome feeling of empowerment. These strange, bizarre things that I was afraid of, I felt like I could stand against them if I wanted to." I explained with exuberance. "As crazy as it sounds, its' one of the happiest memories I've ever had, next to my wedding and finding Cheryl, of course."

"Really….why that's certainly interesting. So this was a strong, redefining moment for you, yes?"

"Oh, very. It was like David and Goliath, finally slaying the mighty giant. The strange thing of it all was…" I paused, trying not to choke on the words. "That thing…it was like it knew already about my guilt. Like it was in my head….how else could it possibly know about Jodie?"

"Hmm…perhaps a manifestation of some sort."  
"Perhaps….I still wonder how much of this entire thing was in my head…which is why I'm here, of course. Heh."

"And I'm glad you're here to talk these things out, Mr. Mason. Life seems so basic to most people, but when you really look past the surface its complicated. "

"Yes, I agree. Stranger, the times that monster spoke in his normal voice, as normal as can be anyway, the way it spoke to me, jiding me and coercing me, reminded me of my father. Who…in short was just nor a good man. It felt like I was…beating my father to death…"

"Well, one other reason why it was so monumental?"

"Yes, of course. I finally stood up to my old man. It was important, because I never got the chance to do it in real life. He died of lung cancer before I got to do it. I almost cried of happiness, to tell you the truth although I hate to say it. I was close to my mother, who had to endure him for so many years before she became strong enough to leave. It took me longer to stand up to him, though. She was always telling me to fight for myself, because she wouldn't always be around to do it. And finally, I did it."

"Well, I'm glad it had a positive impact on you, Harry. Sorry that it had happened under such unfortunate circumstances, though."

"Unfortunate, indeed. I would go through anything for Cheryl. She was putting me to the test, all right. I was hoping the whole time I'd wake up with Cheryl to find it was a stupid nightmare. But, it never did."

"An interesting tale, indeed. Here's what I'm thinking…Silent Hill, or at least this supernatural elements of it, such as creatures, transformations and all, were a manifesto, a town created of your worst fears and nightmares? Maybe it was a random town designed in your own mind for you to face your fears and cope with your loss of your late wife. Perhaps that's what this was all along and…"

"I am NOT making this up!" I shouted, standing to my feet. "I will not have another doctor brand me a lunatic! I know these things are impossible, but I'm just tired of people saying I made it up. I'm not crazy!"

"Mr. Mason, you need to calm down," worry and fear spread out of the doctor's eyes. "Should we stop now?"

"No," I sat back down. "No, we can't. I supposed you're right I should calm down. I'm sorry. It's just, you implied that I was making everything up."

"Theoretically speaking is all Harry. We're investigating this still. I wasn't diagnosing you and I'm not calling you a liar, Mr. Mason. I'm just discussing the possibilities aloud, that's all."

"There's only one possibility, doctor. And that's that this really happened. Because these things have never happened to you, doesn't mean that it doesn't happen to anyone else. There are forces beyond our power and means, Dr. Ingram. And when those forces are in motion, there is only so much we can do to stop it. It's supernatural, yes. But not superimaginative."

"I…I'm afraid I can't outright say that I believe you're story, Mr. Mason. You know, especially as a man of science and medicine that I need proof of something. Which is why you of course had so much trouble with the police when you had to explain to them that your daughter Cheryl disappeared into a supernatural town and you had another child with you…I'm sorry, but that would be a lie if I said that I believed it all. I don't want to lie to you, I would rather be honest."

"Then, do you think I'm crazy? Tell me, honestly."

"I think…I think that there are some questionable entries in your story. I believe a very traumatic experience happened, and I believe that it changed you and your daughter's life. However, much of the details of the events in Silent Hill, I have to disagree with."

"Well, at least you're honest."

"You may continue your story, at any rate."

"So, anyway…"

_Back To Silent Hill…_

I awoke, cold and on the tiled floor of Midwich Elementary School. For a minute, I could swear I heard the sound of bells playing. I looked around, and found that the fog was not only outside, it was _in _the school. I stood up, and examined my clothes. There were no bloodstains present now. How odd? I was in the same place as where I was before when I pummeled that horrendous monster. Yet, it was gone now. The middle of my right hand throbbed, and it looked red. Small, partially healed lines where I had been cut by the glass window I broke reminded that the entire encounter with the monster did in fact happen. It throbbed and ached dully. How long had I been out this time?

I took out my cel phone to check the time, but my battery was dead. Great. Now I couldn't even call the police if I needed to. Not that they would answer, anyway. Ever since I got into this town, I was cutoff from everything. You'd think I was in another dimension, which didn't seem far from the truth.

Now, I could finally leave. Before I turned out to the door, I saw a faint glowing from the courtyard. Looking through the frosty glass doors, I could make out an outline of the same glowing red pentagram from before. It was here in both worlds. It was a constant.

Perhaps these pentagrams were a symbol, some link between these two worlds. Only further venturing would tell me anything more. After I left that building, I had the feeling that I would never step foot into _any_ elementary schools again…

As I walked through the door, I heard a metal jingling noise. I looked down to see a small set of keys that I had grazed with my foot. Bending down, I inspected the tag on the side that said "K. Gordon." Wasn't that the name of the teacher on that list in the lobby? I snatched up the keys, sticking them into my pants pocket, and headed back to the receptionist area.

Skimming over the list, I found K. Gordon. Apparently, he (assuming K. Gordon _was _a he_) _lived on 35 Bradbury Circle. Looking at my map, I saw that Bradbury St. was only a stone's throw away, intersecting with Midwich. Writing down the address, I decided to pay this K. Gordon a visit. Perhaps get some answers. Then again, K. Gordon could be missing just like everyone else in this town. Either way, considering I literally ran into his keys, I probably needed it. Nothing around here was a coincidence.

And so I trekked back out into the abysmal fog, following the street on to Bradbury. The funny thing about this fog was that it played tricks with your mind. So many times, when something came into view, I would swear for a moment it was another monster or creature, but would end up being something that looked absolutely nothing like a creature. I really began to believe this fog messed with your senses. And it wasn't just sight. Every now and then, I thought I heard a footstep, or a rustle in the bushes, or the crunch of gravel nearby. Yet, nothing was there.

Going down Bradbury St. I found that the numbers went all the way to 20, but stopped at yet another one of the confounded chasms. It's gaping hole in the earth seemed to stretch on forever, and the lines in the pavement formed a jeering face in my mind, mocking my roadblock.

I was about to scream my head off. Once again, I was cut off from my destination. After I rethought the address, I then remembered it was for Bradbury Circle, not street. I backed up about thirty feet, and found a street going north. There was no sign, and I found out why. It was not a residential street, per say. It was another one of those long alleyways connecting to the houses on the other side. The front of the houses were on the other side of that chasm, and I was coming at the houses from the back. Not knowing what else I could do, I followed the alley all the way down. Fortunately, all of them had numbers identifying the houses they went to. Making my way through, I counted all the way to….35. Here it was…K. Gordon's house.

It looked just like every other house on the street, the last house on the right. With a shiver, I noticed that this alleyway was much like the alley close to where I had first met the demon children.

Trying to shift my thoughts, I looked at the wooden fence. I investigated the wooden fence area, and prepared to jump it, when I found a wooden gate door with a padlock on it. I pulled out my set of keys, and tried one, which didn't work. I fumbled the key out, and tried the second. With a skilled twist (I had far too many keys that didn't fit quite right and had to do this often) I was able to unlock the padlock, and pop it off the latch. I swung the creaky door open, and stepped into K. Gordon's patio area. It was almost identical to the setup of John Bagwell's house and probably too like all the other houses on Levin St. I approached the back door and tried the other key. With an easy twist, I was inside.

"Hello?" I called, preparing to hear a surprised response. Nothing. I hollered again, but again no reponse.

Only the sound of the wind outside, and the damp fog which permeated the space around me.

Apparently, the snow had eased up, and although it was still cold, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been earlier. I stepped in, still on guard to defend myself in case K. Gordon mistook me for a burglar. If a stranger showed up in my house under such circumstances, he would be more than unwelcome.

"Mr. or Ms. Gordon? Are you here?" I said, as I slowly worked through the kitchen. No answer still. After a minute of searching through the house, it was apparent K. Gordon was not here, and in fact no one had been here recently at all. There was nothing sitting out on the counters, or any trash in the trash can, or any other tell-tale signs of recent life in this house. It looked like Mr./Ms. Gordon had cleaned and never came back…

Surely there was a picture of the homeowner sitting out somewhere. And I was right. After looking around, I found a picture of a woman holding a large-mouth bass in one outstretched hand, grinning from ear to ear. She was wearing typical fishing gear, a vest, hat, and rubber boots. There were other pictures of this same woman with others, but she was the only person in every picture. This must have been K. Gordon. Upon more further inspection, I found some documents that listed the name as "Kim Renee Gordon." So, this Gordon's first name was Kim.

After searching the den thoroughly, I suddenly noticed a white piece of paper sitting atop the TV. It was a rectangular envelope, and inside was a simple note that said, "I have the latest shipment, Claudia. Just give me a list of names, and I'll distribute them."

Interesting. Who is Claudia? Another unanswered question. Then, my phone began to break out into that strange static noise. I cupped my ears in reaction, dropping the note. How could my phone make any more noise now? It was dead.

Despite that fact, I took out my camera and snapped a photo of the den area, where the note was placed in front of the TV. Immediately, the squealing sound from my phone stopped, returning it to its state of normalcy.

I pulled up the Review mode of my camera, and the image that came back was horrifying.

Chapter 5

Instead of the empty living room, I was very privileged (a term I use very loosely) to witness a picture of Kim Gordon, sitting in the recliner with a bottle of pills turned over and an empty bottle of alcohol. A line of blood ran from the corners of her dry, cracked lips. Kim Gordon had killed himself, in this very room. Perhaps she would be waiting for me at the Alchemilla Hospital…

A sound suddenly cut the air, causing me to almost drop my camera. It was the reverberating of a bell…a church bell more specifically. it had that distinctive sound that I heard numerous times from various churches. A thought hit me like a ton of bricks. As old as this town was, this was probably not a timed bell. It was manual, which meant that someone else was here! And they were trying to signal their presence Perhaps Cybil had run across it, and was calling me to her!

My heart soared, and I ran for the front door, throwing it open and stepping back into the fog, which now seemed less dense. Of course, it was probably just a mental thing because of my temporary euphoria, but I didn't care at this point. Someone else was here, and that was relief enough. Looking down at my map, there was a Balkan Church northeast from here.

The next five minutes went by in a blur. I booked it through every street, ignoring any and all strange noises, and found no blockades along the way. As I made my way through, I found various chasms further down that I recognized. Apparently these chasms were only so big, because I saw the other sides of them. Seeing that made feel better, knowing there was a way around this town, as long as you could find the inconvenient detours.

Very effing inconvenient, indeed.

The deep, rich melody of the bells continued as I trucked through the streets, making no effort to make myself incognito. Those earlier negative effects of the fog had no hold on me now, for I was on a natural high, letting endorphins give my body its own natural boost. I felt like a million bucks.

As I ran through the various streets unscathed, I thought back to the strange note that Kim Gordon had written to this Claudia person. Who was she, and what had he gotten a shipment of? There were no strange packages or anything lying about, so what was she referring to? If she was doing anything legitimate, she would have come right out and said what it was. Her shipments definitely sounded less than legal. Maybe it was the very thing she had in a bottle of in the picture I took.

Finally, my curiosity got the best of me, and I stopped long enough to review the picture I had taken. Maybe there was some hidden detail or clue in the photo I hadn't noticed beforehand. When I put my camera into Review mode, I found that the picture was completely gone. Panicking, I found that all the other pictures I'd taken previously were gone, as well. What the hell? Silent Hill didn't want anyone having evidence? It was protecting itself. It went with my current thought before.

Silent Hill was not just a town. It was a being. It was alive

It was an entity, protecting itself from outsiders it saw as a threat. Were this to be true, then I was some kind of a threat, but how? I wasn't a threat. I just wanted to go on a "vacation." Then again, anywhere with secrets found enemies with journalist. Enraged, I threw my camera down, seeing it as useless now. Immediately, I regretted that. But now that didn't matter. Cybil was waiting for me…

I left the smashed pieces of my camera behind me, sprinting through the streets. After this whole endeavor, I was sure to have dropped some pounds. All this running was becoming redundant, and a pain in my side. Literally…

Before long, the sound of the bells were almost deafening. As I approached the church, the bells suddenly faded out, as if the mysterious ringer (Cybil, I hope) had stopped what they were doing. I came to the entrance, which was very thankfully unlocked, and stepped inside.

The church was very old-fashioned yet ornately decorated. The ceiling was almost endless, reaching far into the sky. Lines of heavily adorned pews stood in rows to my right and left. They had nice cushion red velvet seats.

_If only my pews were that comfy looking_, I thought. Looking ahead, my eyes made out a strange-looking woman standing behind the altar at the front of the sanctuary. She faced a gigantic statue of Jesus' crucifixion on the wall. As I took a couple of steps in, the woman slowly turned to face me. I immediately recognized her. It was Dahlia Gillespie.

She was strangely dressed, wearing a white shroud covering her head and a long, tattered-looking dress that looked like something from an Amish village. Multiple gray tufts of hair stuck out wildly from underneath the head covering. The clothing in general was odd, and very old-fashioned.

"Excuse me. Were you the one ringing that bell just now?" I asked quizzically, not able to hide my disappointment.

"Yes, I was. Sorry to disappoint you. Ironically, though, I've been expecting you. It was foretold by Gyromancy, you know," the woman said in a croaky voice. She had strange lilts and punctuations to her words, giving her speech a strange rhythm. From the moment she began to speak, a voice in my head screamed the word "crazy."

"I'm sorry. What are you talking about?" I was probably looking at her like she was one of those strange creatures. What the hell was gyromancy?

"I knew you'd come. You want the girl, right?"

"The girl!? You must be talking about my daughter Cheryl!" As much as I didn't like this woman already, she could have Cheryl's whereabouts. I had to be nice if I wanted information from her.

"I see everything, Harry Mason. Everything."

"You know something? Tell me where she is! How do you know my name, I don't even live here?!"

My anger began to rise, and I started to make a bee line for her. For all I knew, this crazy woman probably kidnapped Cheryl!

"Stay back! Nothing's to be gained from floundering about at random. You must follow the path. The path of the Hermit can seal by Flauros."

Was this woman on crack? What nonsense is she spouting about? Gyromancy? Path of the Hermit? Flauros? She had obviously lost her marbles, if she ever had them in them in the first place.

"If you know so much then where is Cheryl!"

The crazy witch responded with little emotion as if she didn't even realize how angry I was.

"Here is the Flauros, a cage of piece," she then brought a pyramid-shaped object out from under her shroud and placed it on the altar. "It can break through the walls of darkness and counteract the wrath of the underworld. These will help you. Make haste to the hospital before it's too late!"

Without missing a beat, Dahlia began heading towards a side door off to the left.

"Wait! Don't go!" I yelled, breaking into a sprint. How could she take off like that, without explaining herself? By the time I got to the door, it was too late. She had already gone through the door. I rushed to it, but it was locked solidly. I took a step back, preparing to kick the door in, but something told me not to. I'm not sure if it was that kicking down a door in a church seemed like blasphemy, or that this woman couldn't be followed if she wished it so, but an instinct within me said to not pursue her.

Knowing this woman, she probably had some crazy hex on it, anyway. What a peculiar woman. All things considered, it _was_ strange that she mentioned a "path." Throughout my visit here, I had strange clues and hints that guided me everywhere I had gone so far. Now that I thought about it, it was as if something was leading me around Silent Hill on purpose. A rate being led through an experimental maze

As crazy as this witch was, maybe she was on to something. If only I understood what these weird names meant. Either way, I did agree with her last statement. She already knew that the hospital was important, and the sooner I got there the better.

I didn't know what awaited me there, but if it led me to Cheryl, then I was going.

Eyebrows raised in new curiosity, I took a step up to the altar, where the peculiar-looking object sat. What was it called? Flauros? I picked it up, and studied it. It was pyramid-shaped, perfectly symmetrical. There were strange symbols carved onto the stone. There were four in all: Three on the sides, and one on the bottom. Did they mean anything? Perhaps only Dahlia knew the answer to this? Or maybe even this Claudia?

Still so many questions and so very few answers. At least I was still on the "path of the Hermit." Weird stuff. After looking over the object several times, I stuck it onto the small bag I previously had my camera in. The size was a little big, the points of the pyramid poking out of the bag, but it would do. Besides, maybe it would be a good luck charm…but then again from this lady? Probably more like a hexed object. Only one way to find out…

Seeing if there was anything else of value, I looked back down at the altar, where the Flauros was. To my enjoyment, I found another key. This one had a round shaped label that read "Drawbridge." Was there a drawbridge here?

Looking at the map, I saw that there was a drawbridge on the east end of Silent Hill. Would 'ya look at that…

It would seem the bridge was up now and needed this to cross into Central Silent Hill. And this key was my ticket. The hospital must be on that side. It just had to try. I could somehow feel it. This "path" idea seemed less and less crazy. With a newfound hope, I exited the church and worked my way east towards the drawbridge. I went out to endure my old friend, the fog, once again.

After an unknown amount of time (which seemed to be nonexistent in this town), I came upon the drawbridge. As my suspicions had guessed it was drawn up. With the mist clouding up the air, the bridge could have stretched all the way up to heaven for all I knew. A set of stairs off to the right led up to a control booth. I took the steps slowly, expecting some kind of trouble. Things were going _way _too smoothly now. Yet, I found no trouble.

Inside the booth, I nearly tripped over something. Muttering under my breath, I learned to my delight that a fire-ax was laying in the middle of the floor. I picked it up and was pleased to see it was in good condition. This would definitely come in handy.

The controls for the booth were very simple. A keyhole and a lever. I inserted the key and turned it to the right. A click sounded resided nearby, and so I pulled down the lever. With a slight rumble, the machinery hummed to life, and the entire area seemed to vibrate forcefully. I seemed to be on my way.

I scrambled down the stairs, waiting for the bridge to continue lowering in much anticipation. The steady sound of gears at work encroached all around me, various pulleys and other machinery at work. I was transfixed, my gaze glued to the bridge. It would take me further into Silent Hill, braving various other challenges and hopefully no other horrors. But nothing in life comes easy, and in this town easy was a far cry from reality.

In minutes, the bridge was down and now my path was laid out before me, which I took gladly and in much anticiopation.

In mere moments, I was in Central Silent Hill…

Part IV: Central Silent Hill,

Alchemllia Hospital,

Chapter 1

The fog twisted and swirled around me, seeming a bit thicker here in the central district. Not having anything to go by, all I could do was follow the road straight ahead. There was not anything worthy of interest, just some benches and shrubs for decorating the drawbridge area. Close to the sides, I was entitled to at least look once at the view of Toluca Lake.

Gazing out into the misty lake, I was enthralled by the beauty there. As sad and abandoned as this town was, it still had wondrous beauty and charm to it. Monsters and abominations aside, of course. I'm sure on a sunny day in June this was one heck of a sight, considering how pretty it was on a foggy, creepy day like this. The wind blew slightly, moving around pieces of trash on the bridge. As I stood there, taking in the view, I began thinking back on all the events that had led up to this point.

I drifted off in thought, letting my mind wander freely. An abandoned town, full of unexplained mist and fog. An odd virus that infected people. Ghostly pictures of people or things that couldn't be seen with the naked eye. Demonic children, wraith-like creatures, and corpses brought back from the dead. An alternate world that was a nightmarish version of our own. Potential illegal drug and/or cult activities. How did these all connect?

_Something tapped my shoulder._

I jerked away, turning around to see who was there. But it was only the mist, rolling through the air casually and free.

"Hello?" I called. There was no answer. I wandered around, expecting to see someone giggling and hiding somewhere out of clear sight. But there wasn't. It was only me.

_The mist, _I thought. _It's playing games with me._

I decided it best to move on anyway. I couldn't spend all day lost in thought. I had to stay focused. After a minute more of walking over the bridge, I soon came to an intersection of Sagan St. and Crichton St. . On Sagan St. a little past the intersection, I saw a Police Station sign. My prayers had been answered! Where cryptic hints and Hermit paths worked, a police force armed with guns worked to help find your daughter, as well. Yet, I somehow knew before I even got there that no officers would be present. I checked, anyway.

Sometimes, I really hate being right.

I opened the wide door of the police building, cautiously peering around the edge of the door. Everything inside was pitch black, not to my surprise. There were no sounds of movement or any kind of life inside the station. Clicking on my flashlight, I quickly surmised that the police station was not big at all, so most likely had small police force. A small town with no crime, so I'm sure not much was needed?

Of course, if you had a Crazy Religious Cult Police Force, it might be a whole different story…

This Dahlia woman had much to do with what was going on, and John was right about Dahlia's psychological stance, which was raving lunatic. Strangely enough, after meeting her, I got the sense that she wanted me to succeed. Despite her raving lines of cryptic speech, I think she really did want me to find Cheryl, considering she gave me this Flauros, whatever the hell _that_ did. From what she said, it would "keep the darkness at bay." If that meant that it stopped the wailing sirens, demon-spawned children, mutant dogs, reanimated corpses, and wraiths, then I was pro-Flauros all the way. Yet, I couldn't help but feel she may have ulterior motives behind her assistance.

Letting the beam of my flashlight naturally survey the room, I noticed that somebody must have come in and ransacked the place. Papers were strewn over desks, drawers were gaping open, and all-in-all the place was trashed. Nothing seemed to stand out to me, especially with so much littered about in the room. Seeing as there were no clues to this town's mystery, I decided it was time to do something about my handgun situation. Surely they would have the ammunition required for my gun.

It didn't take long for me to find the gun cabinet, which was locked. Of course, keys weren't required when you had a fire-ax at your disposal. Perhaps they used them for assisting firemen, and kept them readily available. For whatever reason, I was very grateful for it. Fire-related equipment was becoming very handy lately, and I gave a salute.

It only took three hard chops at the lock to break it open, the metal crunching and the cabinet door creaking open. It was like a gunslinger's dream. Inside was a short-barreled shotgun (12-gauge or 16-gauge, I was unsure), two Sniper Rifles, an arsenal of handguns, and some tazers. I always liked shotguns, but with all the running I had to do, I was unsure of using them. I decided that a powerful handgun would be best. Then, it caught my eye, and I found my prize. It was a six-cyclinder Magnum, and a cartridge of rounds sat below it. The polished, wooden handle and large-cylinder chamber was such a beautiful sight to my sore eyes, and the fact that I had used them before was even more a reason to take it. If I was going to fight the denizens of the dead and beyond, I wanted to at least be confident in doing so.

It took me about five minutes so suit up. Not only did I take the gun, I grabbed a holster and a small bag to keep the extra ammunition. I searched around the cabinet, and found a flak vest with enough pockets to keep me well-stocked. As I took off my coat and began putting on the vest, I had the image of me as a cowboy. The Lone Gunslinger, returning to his hometown to battle the evil forces that had been drawn in. I laughed nervously to myself. I was living a young boys' dream, but this was closer to a nightmare. Either way, I liked having some firepower to back me up.

I began to turn to leave, and finally decided that I might need that shotgun after all. The image of the demon children, who always came in packs, pervaded my mind. For groups, this would be a valuable asset. I loaded the short-barreled shotgun, and packed extra rounds into my vest. Things were starting to get heavy now, and time was of the essence.

As I was loading the shotgun, a white dry-erase board caught my eye. There was something written on it in hurried, scribbled writing. I stopped and walked over to read it.

"Product only available in select areas of Silent Hill. Raw material is White Claudia, a plant peculiar to the region. Was it manufactured here? Is the dealer the manufacturer?"

Well I'll be…White Claudia wasn't a person at all! It was a plant. From the looks of it, perhaps it was used as some kind of illegal substance. Did this have some kind of connection to the events going on now? Could it be that maybe I was under the influence of this White Claudia, and was experiencing symptoms of hallucinations? It would explain a lot of this mess…

There was also a small sticky note posted to the board . It read, "Coroner Seals called. Officer Gucci unlikely to be murdered. He apparently died naturally, but medical records show Officer Gucci had no prior symptoms of Heart disease." Officer Gucci? Hmmm. Perhaps Cybil knew him. I could ask her whenever I found her.

If _you ever find her_, the dark voice in my head spoke. I ignored it, trying to focus on the positive. Keeping these thoughts in mind, I trudged out of the station, beginning to feel the effects of my long adventure thus far. Some time or another, I would need to sleep. Yet, I don't think I was physically nor mentally able to do so. Not without finding Cheryl first, and knowing she was safe.

I went back outside, finding that the snow had started to pick back up again, and the fog had become thicker. Perhaps the town knew I was somewhere else, and followed me. This was only a wild guess, but instincts were everything in these kinds of situations. Survival, so I could save Cheryl.

Suddenly, thoughts of Cheryl running into these monsters being eaten alive by those demonic children, or wasted away to nothing by the Shadow Men.

_She didn't even last five minutes_, the unfamiliar voice came again. _You probably won't find her. Just pieces of her scattered all around town._

"STOP IT!" I yelled, and there was silence. This negative feeling brought on by the mist, it was starting to intensify, manifesting itself as an actual voice. It was the fog, I was sure, taking all the negative emotions and creating the _id _that was inside of me.

Intermission

"So, let's talk about the Id," Dr. Ingram said, and I was already prepared to stop. Everyone knew it was a Freudian idea, and very commonly discussed in psychology.

"Yes, the id. It was an actual voice outside my own. I heard it in my head, and it was very unlike my own. The voice was like that of a darker me. Perhaps it was a Harry Mason from an alternate world, like in the school. Like a doppelganger, you know?"

"Doppleganger, like in the stories?"

"Yes. It was like my doppelganger's voice in my head. It would tell me negative things, or tell me Cheryl was dead. It tried to make me give up. It said I wasn't good enough, fast enough to save her. That same feeling as earlier accompanied it. I don't hear it anymore, not since I left Silent Hill. Only the feelings, but not the voice."

"Well, that's very good that you don't hear it now. It could perhaps be a temporary psychotic break you had in town, I think. Not that you're crazy, or schizophrenic. The mind does very strange things under specific situations of stress. It's capabilities are incredible."

"You…admire it, don't you?"

"The mind?"

"Yes, the mind."

"I do. Why else would I be a psychologist? Haha. I love the mind. There are so many intricacies we don't understand, and many we may never understand. That's why it fascinates me so much. It can do so many things. It has power over us that we could never imagine. Placebos are example of that. Expect something to cure you, even if it sugar-water, and it cures you. Your mind makes it happen. Anyway, I don't want to get off topic."

"Oh yes, of course. But yes, that's the first time I heard it. Anyway, things didn't get better, even though I got all of that ammunition. In fact, it got worse. Much, much worse…"

I couldn't let id win. I continued on, making my way south down Crichton St. Now that I thought about it, wasn't Crichton also the name of an author? Indeed, it was. Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park, as well as other sci-fi and thriller novels. Looking at other street names, I began to realize that all of the street names were associated with an author's name or some kind of horror/sci-fi movie or novel.

Koontz St. was named after Dean Koontz. Bachman Road was named after Richard Bachman which was Stephen King's pseudonym. I'd read enough thriller novels when I was younger to know some of these. Elroy sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. Seems like whoever named these streets had some flare for the extraordinary or sci-fi. This town wasn't ordinary by any stretch of the imagination, but the names were probably just an odd coincidence.

I was about halfway down Crichton St. when a building stood out starkly against the rest. It was a Post Office, and the lights were on inside, unlike the rest of the street. As much as I needed to get to the hospital, I just couldn't help but feel pulled there.

As I halved the distance, I saw that there were eight people inside, standing in line. One of them was a postal worker, checking people out. Why would the store be open at a time like this? With all these monsters and strange things wandering about, how they could go on acting like nothing was wrong here?

First, I slung the shotgun over my back, hidden by my coat. I didn't want people thinking I was coming in to rob them. If I saw someone coming into the post office with a shotgun, I'd drop like a dead fish on the floor.

I stepped inside, walking towards the line Six of the seven people in line snapped a glance at me as I entered. They were gawking at me as people gawk at the new kid at school. I decided I could ask them if they'd seen my daughter even though I knew that she was most likely at the hospital. It never hurt to ask.

"Excuse me, sir?" I said, pulling out my wallet. "Have you seen a little girl? She's lost, seven years old. Looks like this." I took out a 4x6 of my daughter, holding it out for them to see.

"No, I'm afraid I haven't," the woman directly in front of me said curtly, and turned back around as if she didn't care.

"Nope, haven't seen her," a gruff man further up in the line answered. The rest of them simply shook their head, looking back as if completely uninterested.

"Can any of you help me?" A couple whipped their heads around, shooting me a hard glare, and rolled their eyes.

"Do any of you even care? My daughter's missing, and there's a storm out there! She could freeze to death, and not to mention those things out there…" I stopped myself, not meaning to say that much. A man two places up looked at me as if my head was on backwards.

"Sir, you alright? You seem kinda upset. What things are you talking about?" He was in his late thirties, and wore a red flannel shirt and a red cap. His appearance was rough, and he reminded me of a stereotypical lumberjack.

"You know what I'm talking about! The weird child-like creatures and…the ghosts…I know it sounds crazy but…it has something to do with tat woman Dahlia. She's somehow involved. Surely even if you haven't seen those things…I mean, you guys know about the stuff that goes on here. I haven't been here long, and I already know some of the weird things some people here are involved in!

I couldn't help myself, the words just seemed to spew forth from my mouth. The people simple stared back at me blankly, while some others just looked stern and irriated. "And none of you want to admit what's happening right? She has a hold of you, too? " A sudden tension filled the room, making the air feel tight and heavy. The older woman in front of me turned around to directly face me. I'd finally kept someone's attention.

"Look, sir," she said in a low register, but with a great sternness. "I don't know who you are, and what you're doing, but I don't care. Here in Silent Hill, everybody minds their own business. You don't go spouting off nonsense in front of people like that. And if someone is missing, then they probably don't want to be found."

"My seven year old daughter is out there, and you think she doesn't want to be found? Seriously , lady? I got into a car wreck on the way here, and woke to find her gone! I think someone here might have taken her!"

She now lowered her voice. "Well, in that case someone else doesn't want YOU to find them. Plain and simple. Leave well enough alone or else you'll get yourself into something more than you can handle. And If you know what's best for you, do not mention Dahlia's name like that around these parts. You might end up missing yourself. I hope I've made myself clear."

With that, she turned back around, waiting as if our conversation never happened. Those were the last words I ever heard from her. Everyone else went back to waiting, as if I never even came in.

What is wrong with them? I thought. It's like they're in some kind of trance or they just ignore what's going on around them in fear. That's the kind of hold Dahlia has on these people. Yet, she wants to help me? None of this seems to make any sense…

I turned to go back outside, but decided against it. After all this time I'd been here in Silent Hilll, I hadn't once used the bathroom. So, I went to my left and found the Men's room.

A minute later, I stood looking in the mirror pondering everything that had transpired so far. This nightmare seemed to be never-ending, and perhaps it was. Maybe I was stuck in a time loop, and would look for Cheryl over and over for eternity, following clues that ran me in circles in this accursed town. I splashed water on my face, letting it run down. I relaxed for a moment, letting my mind rest, when an ear-splitting scream startled me out of my rest. I crept up to the door, and pressed my ear to listen better.

The noises that followed made my blood curdle. There was a shattering of glass, then multiple screams of horror. Then, a loud thud. More screams, and then a ripping noise, barely audible, and the scream intensified. In between screams, there were various cries of "Oh my God," and "What _is _that thing!," "Help!", or "Get 'offa me!"

I wanted to rush out there, guns blazing like in the action movies, but fear had seem to creep back in on me once again. Doing is not the same as what's in your mind. After a moment, there was the sound of someone's quick foothalls, then a final scream that was choked off quickly with a tearing noise. And I swear, somewhere in between, I thought I heard the sound of fluttering wings. After what seemed like an eternity, the noises stopped.

I waited. One minute went by. Nothing. Another minute. Nothing. I unholstered my shotgun, and pushed the door slightly open using the barrel. Peering through I could only see the wall adjacent to the door. I opened it further, and stuck my head completely out. All I could see from here was a large bloodstain on the floor, and more seemed to be streaked all over the walls.

I walked further out, my gun at the ready. What I saw was nothing less than a bloodbath. The seven people inside the area were strewn about the room, huge gashes across their necks and torsos. One man was cut almost completely in half, his insides spilling out. These people were completely massacred.

I choked back bile, but could only hold it for so long, dashing back into the bathroom. After emptying what few things were in my stomach, I leaned against the tiled wall of the bathroom. I breathed heavily, trying not to focus on the tightening of my stomach muscles.

I went back out into the main area, looking once again at the total carnage. Whatever attacked these people had crashed through the large glass window set right at the area near the line. There bits of...tissue on the floor. I couldn't say for absolute sure, but it almost looked like part of a wing. The piece was grayish, and was scaly feeling like a reptile's skin. I shivered, and dropped it. Perhaps the creatures didn't even need a siren to get out anymore. Maybe Silent Hill's nightmare is growing stronger. That seal at the school…maybe it had intensified everything. Who knew at this point?

Standing there, I got a very interesting glimpse of the future. A policeman just happened to drive by the postal office, and saw dead people thrown all around. In the midst of it was me, holding a shotgun. That wouldn't be good P.R. at all. Deciding there was nothing else I could do here, I trekked on to the hospital.

Shaking from the shock and emptiness of my stomach, I went back out into the foggy, snow-riddled streets of Silent Hill. Paranoia only made me feel worse. That flying creature could still be nearby. My flashlight's beam quivered, and I would snap it in any direction I heard a noise. Fortunately, the noises never heralded any more Things…yet

Without any uncouth interruptions, I traveled down Crichton to Alchemilla Hospital. I noticed as I walked through the streets that there were no houses here. This area must be the commercial and shopping district. There mainly general stores, some dress shops, a pizza joint with a vintage arcade machine, a burger place. All of the stores were done in a style reminiscent of the 50's and 60's. There was even an Apothecary sign on one of them, and a Barber Shop, with the spinning red and white pole.

Within mere minutes, I was there.

_So this was Alchemilla Hospital…_

In all its dark splendor. The size of the hospital itself was not very large at all, but something about its very presence seemed very threatening. Like a hulking monster watching over its den. And its physical presence wasn't the only factor that made it so menacing. Violence seemed to radiate from the place, coming off in thick waves. It was as if the hospital was the very essence of death. You could dismiss that easily at most hospitals, because naturally many people died in hospitals. Yet, this was different.

It wasn't just the presence of death. It was the presence of evil. Subconsciously, I knew that this was the place where I would have a lot of questions answered, but in the same token, I would face more unspeakable horrors. Hospitals were scary enough by themselves, but in a place like this, it might as well be Hell itself .

Nevertheless, I had to enter.

Taking a step forward, I immediately felt a primitive instinct, a subconscious notion of self-preservation pulling me away from the building. Yet all the same, the hospital and the answers within beckoned to me. With every step forward I took, it felt like two magnets of the same polarity were being forced to come together. When I stood at the entrance of the doors, the force of my self-preservation pushed me away the most. Yet, I negated the force by thinking of Cheryl.

_For Cheryl. I have to do this…for Cheryl. _

With my stomach cramping, my nerves shot, I pulled open the doors and stepped inside.

And I knew, once I stepped through those doors, there was no turning back…

Chapter 2

Hospitals were never a place that made me feel comfortable, especially associating them with my wife's untimely death. Now, here in this forsaken and forbidden place, my nerves were walking on eggshells.

The lights weren't on, but it was still fairly visible inside. Emergency lights gave just enough light to see, even if it was dim. Any excuse to save my batteries was a good one. I clicked off my flashlight, placing it in my jacket pocket.

There was a front desk to my left, a simple coffee table and a couch to my right. Straight ahead, the hall went around a corner to the left. Walking forward, I could tell that this hospital was abandoned just as much as the rest of the town. Everything was covered in dust, my hand leaving prints on anything I touched. First things first. I needed to find my way around this place. The only thing worse than being in a hospital was being _lost _in a hospital.

Above the couch was a map encased in glass, tacked to a square piece of corkboard. I slid the glass to the side, and pulled the map out, surveying it. According to the map, there was an examination room around the corner. Not knowing what else I should do, I followed the hall around the corner, and walked straight until I came to the door on my left, the Examination Room.

Entering, I came upon a strange sight. A man, dressed in a pressed, gray business suit sat in a chair, staring at the floor. His hair was jet-black, and slicked straight back.. He had a gun in his hand, hanging limp from his wrist. It looked like he had dozed off as he sat in the chair.

Following his gaze (whether conscious or not) to the floor, I stepped back in realization that some odd monstrosity lay dead on the floor. It was large, covering about eight square feet. The skin was a stony-gray color, much like the piece I had found in the Post Office. Peering in closer, it looked a lot like a pterodactyl with razor-tipped claws and long, membranous leathery wings. The stench of its death hung in the air, stinging my nostrils. It may as well have been the same monster that was in the post office.

All this came in at once, causing me to gasp aloud. The sound of my gasp was apparently louder than I thought because the man snapped his head up and opened fire. I dropped instinctively, the bullet whizzing past my head by mere inches. The bullet had been so close, I literally heard it whistle by my ear.

"Stop! Don't shoot!" I yelled, holding my hands up. "I'm a human. I'm normal. Look, see? It's okay!" His aim lowered as realization swept across his face. A 9mm bullet hole was left smoking in the wall, not three inches from my head. The smell of gunpowder plumed through the air.

"Oh…" The man uttered, his face sagging as if in embarrassment. "Thank God. Another human being! I almost shot you! Forgive me…I…I must have dozed off, and you startled me…" The man seemed honestly sorry, but his tone still had a neutral, business-like intonation. I think he seemed relieved as well, finding another normal human.

"It's okay. With the way things are, you'd have to be on edge being in this….nightmarish place. Do you work here, by chance?"

"Yes, I'm Doctor Michael Kaufmann."

"Do you know anything about what's going on? I don't live here, I'm just a tourist. I came here on vacation, and crashed my car. When I woke up…"

"It was like this, right? You're not the only one. I was taking a nap in the staff lounge after working a double shift, and woke up to weird noises. Everyone seems to have disappeared. And it's snowing out, this time of year. Then, this weird fog has covered the town. Something's gone seriously wrong. Did you see any other monsters? Have you ever seen such aberrations? You and I both know creatures like that don't exist."

"I totally agree. Look, I'm here trying to find my daughter. Have you seen a little girl anywhere? She's only seven. She's got short black hair in a plaid dress?"

"Your daughter's missing? At a time like this, too…I'm sorry. With all those monsters around, I highly doubt that she's..."

I felt a knot of dread in my stomach at his words, knowing that it could very well be true. I'd tried not to think about it before. He sensed my apprehension.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to alarm you. Your wife, she's here with you, right?"

"My wife…she died four years ago. It's just me and my daughter."

"I see. I'm…sorry to hear that. I really am. And just now, I almost killed you. Guess I shouldn't have fallen asleep with a gun in my hand, huh? This…thing…" He pointed to the ground, "…was in this room when I came in here. Probably came through the window." He nodded towards the window in the back.

"You…you're the only other person who's seen these monsters," I whispered to myself.

"What was that?"

"Oh…oh nothing. It's just strange. I've found other people around town. It's not completely deserted. But…no one else has seen the same monsters that I've seen. This one police officer…she's seen the sink holes around town, and was attacked by a bartender at the Café Stop."

"Was she hurt?"

"No, no. She didn't give him a chance. There was a strange marks or bumps that was on his body. I wasn't actually there when it happened, but I didn't second guess here after seeing other strange things here. I was at the post office earlier, I…I…tried to warn them about things going on but…they didn't listen to me."

"…hmm. Strange. Although people here seem to go out of their way to stay out of other people's affairs. Although you'd think with a girl missing….what other strange things have you seen? You seem to have come across more than me so far."

"Oh geez, where would I begin? This sudden darkness comes at certain times, I've been attacked by these demonic looking children, some type of shadowy ghost, there was even a giant pentagram-esque marking at the school. And there's apparently some type of a cult that resides here in town. There's a woman…Dahlia Gillespie who seems to be a major figure with…I think The Order is what they called it."

At this, the doctor's expression changed, as if he was taken aback that I would know this. Almost the look a man who is afraid of being found out. Immediately after, he went back to a more curious but seemingly emotionless aura.

"I don't know what to tell you. That sounds like quite a story you've got on your hands. Well, I'd better be going. I can't just sit around here talking, it makes me feel useless. I've got important business I must attend to. I bid you aideu."

With that, he pushed right past me in a hurry, and threw the door closed behind him.

"Wait!" I called, going after him. This man was one of the few sane people I'd run into, and he was getting away! I came out of the Examination Room, and barely caught a glimpse of gray from the man's suit going through the hallway door leading into the south end. I was running full speed, but he was well ahead of me. I went through another set of doors into the east area. I caught a split second glimpse of Kaufman as he disappeared into the elevator doors, waving bye to me with a dark, satisfied grin. When I pressed the button to call it back, there was no response…

In fact, the light to the elevator button fizzled out as if the power to the elevator were suddenly cut.

One thing was for sure: Dr. Kaufmann did not want to be followed. Feelings of conspiracy invaded my thoughts. I had no proof, but this Kaufmann fellow was involved. The way he seemed so alarmed when I mentioned Dahlia and the Order and he had to leave so urgently after that. Something big was going on in Silent Hill, even if it was separate from these nitghtmarish events. If I could get ahold of this Kaufmann again, I'd definitely want to confront him about what he knew. I just needed some concrete evidence. Perhaps all the evidence I needed was right here in this hospital.

I looked back down the hallway, trying to decide where I should go to next. Referring to the map, I decided that maybe I should cover this entire floor before jumping to the next. I wasn't completely sure what I was looking for, anyway. Two rooms, the Director's Office and the Doctor's Office, looked promising as far as holding any important information. Hopefully, they would tell me something more about this wretched place.

I tried the Director's Office first, only to find it locked by a sturdy, wooden door.

"Okay, let's see what's behind door number two," I muttered sardonically. This time, I had more luck.

"Dr. Kaufmann" was etched across the opaque glass window. The door swung open easily enough, taking me into a small office with nothing out of the ordinary. A small file cabinet, desk, a slew of scenic pictures, and two chairs adorned the office. A memo pad, some pens, and other miscellaneous items sat in perfect order on the desk. I fished through the drawers first, slinging them open and rifling through various papers and office supplies.

_What doctor leaves his office unlocked and unattended? _I thought. Oh well. His loss, my gain. I continued to rummage through his drawers, trying to find a note, a scribble of information, anything that could clue me in to what was going on. I was sure this Kaufmann knew something that I didn't. After a fruitless search, I gave up. As I stood up to leave, I heard a whirring noise, and jumped in surprise. It was a fax coming through a nearby fax machine. Relieved, I rushed over to see what strange clue was showing up now. Maybe even Cheryl was guiding me somehow, leaving a trail for me to find. The tale of Hansel and Gretel came to mind.

A piece of paper fell into the tray, which I snatched up and perused

"Memorandum:

All personnel are NOT to go into the Basement Storeroom, unless supervised by Dr Kaufmann or Director Irving. It will be locked until further notice. Thank you"

All too easy, it seemed. Perhaps this White Claudia plant or drug mentioned at the police station was stored there. Dr. Kaufmann probably may even be distributing it, and maybe that's the package referred by Kim Gordon. It was a loose connection, but many clues I'd found so far were cohesive. I could probably prove it, if I could just get into the basement storeroom to find the real dirt. And while it would be nice to get some information about this the most daunting question was where was Cheryl could be. I only prayed this supposed drug ring wasn't attached to her somehow. What if children were apart of distribution too…

I searched the room top to bottom, but to no avail. What I _did _find strangely enough, was a blood pack inside a small refrigerator in his office. It was a small, white mini-fridge much like you'd see in a college dorm room. A note stuck to it said, "For those tentacles."

Tentacles? What was he talking about? Odd as it was, it wouldn't surprise me to find a tentacle monster here, of all things. It's not like I hadn't experienced anything less strange than that. Doubtfully, I decided to take the blood pack with me anyway. What could it hurt, besides feeling weird? It's not like I was trying to impress anyone.

The pack sloshed and squished with a sickly noise with each step as I made my way to the "Down" stairs, deciding to at least try the Storeroom door before ripping the place apart for a key. I made my way downstairs, finding the lights growing dimmer as I went down. Finally, I had to use my flashlight to see. The emergency back-up lights were not used here, apparently. Which was foolish, considering the first door I encountered led to a Generator room.

Going in, I found that the generator was not on. Perhaps someone had cut it off? I walked over and pulled the lever to the right, followed by the loud hum of machinery. Lights overhead flickered, seemed to come on but only at half-mass.

"I'll take what I can get," I said with a sigh and went back out into the hallway. There were only two other doors, one a janitor's closet. When I tried the other door, I found it locked tight. It had to be the Basement Storeroom. Cursing under my breath, I knew that now I had to search the whole damn hospital for this key.

If it was even here…

This was not going to be a fun time, but at least the elevator would work now. Remembering how dark basements suddenly made you panic as you left, I hurriedly made my way up the stairs, coming out to the 1st floor once again. The elevator was thankfully nearby, and I found with much relief that it was working.

Once inside, I immediately felt uneasy due to the bloody gurney I found inside. There was a bump under the gurney's sheets, signifying a body inside. This I immediately solved by wheeling it out into the 1st floor hallway without a second glance. Now gurney-free, I pressed the button for the 2nd floor. My eyes glanced over at the gurney, and I swear that as the elevator doors closed, the lump in the sheets began to move.

The whir of elevator pulleys began, and I was moving upwards. After a moment of the elevator's hum and the slight jolt of a stop, the doors opened back up.

Immediately, I thought of being ambushed, and readied my shotgun. Fortunately, nothing came for me, and I was safe for now. The elevator doors led out to a small, lobby area with some armchairs and a small couch. A large door stood to my left, most likely leading into the main hall looking old and decrepit. To much of my dismay, I found them locked.

"Why is everything locked?" I yelled, kicking at the door. What kind of hospital locked doors to the hallways? What is wrong with this place?! Maybe there are people inside, and they've locked the doors to keep any other creatures out. Still, it didn't help me any.

Huffing, I sulked back to the elevator, and pressed the button for "3." Surprisingly, this was the last floor. How small of a hospital is this? Rethinking how tall the hospital looked, somehow it didn't seem right. It wasn't a very tall hospital, but it couldn't have only been three floors, could it?

_Ding! _I had arrived.

On the third floor, the same layout persisted. And once again, the doors were locked. Cursing, I took out my shotgun in anger and fury. I held it up, aiming it directly at the doorknob, and fired. The shotgun resounded with a thunderous boom, seeming to shake the room. After I lowered my gun and went to open the door, I froze in shock. The doors were exactly the same, as if nothing had even touched it.

_The blast from my shotgun had done absolutely nothing._

There was no bullet holes, no sign of damage at all. This wasn't normal. Disbelief filling me, I fired again. The shot almost seem disappear within an inch of the door. I got a closer look to find the remnants of the shell lying at the foot of the door. It was as if there was some kind of forcefield around the doors, protecting it from intrusion. When the contents of shell hit it, it simply just dropped to the floor. Giving up, I stomped back into the elevator. I slid to the floor, holding my head in frustration. I let my eyes relax, not focusing on anything. Now, I had to go back over these floors by foot on the stairs.

Trying to calm myself, I stood back up and went to push the button for the 1st floor, and then stepped back in surprise. Instead of a row of four buttons (B, 1F, 2F, 3F) as before, there was a fifth button labled as "4F". It definitely was not there before, because I would have noticed in the process of going to each floor so far.

"Son of a gun," I said in wonder. Cautious at first, I let my finger hover closely in front of the button, expecting some explosion or booby trap. It couldn't be, though. While I had nightmarish creatures attack me, Silent Hill had also shown me things to help me further my progress. I went ahead and pushed it, not knowing what other alternative I had.

The elevator then hitched violently, knocking me to the floor. I grabbed onto the handrail, pulling myself up. The pull of the gravity weighed on my my arm, and I held steadfast. I didn't want to be thrown around like a rag doll. A dull creak issued outside the elevator, and I waited in dark anticipation. It sounded like the elevator cord was going to snap. So I waited, and waited. Finally, the elevator continued, but it didn't stop; at least not when it should have.

The other floors only took fifteen seconds to arrive, and now it had been a minute and a half. Finally, when I thought it would never end, the elevator rumbled and jerked to a stop, knocking me to the floor again. Faintly I thought I heard a siren wail, but I was probably imagining it. The doors parted slowly, revealing the plain lobby once again.

Perhaps the ride wasn't any longer. It was just my mind playing tricks on me, because I was worried about where this 4th floor was going to take me. This fog had gotten to me again.

I approached the door that would lead me into the main hallway with a feeling that perhaps this place would prove a much better experience than the elementary school. After all, I hadn't run into anything yet. Of course, history has a way of repeating itself. I couldn't have been any farther from the truth.

Stepping into the hallway, I found with high hopes that all the lights were on. Everything looked normal, as it should. No nightmare world filled with rustic walls and caged floors, or dried-up blood splattered on the walls like some demented Jackson Pollock interior decoration. The good feeling followed me, and then I got to the middle of the hallway, and the lights suddenly faded out with a crackle. Perhaps my perception of the siren wail was not an auditory hallucination after all.

The darkness had come, once again. I panicked and turned backward too quickly, tangling up my feet and falling chin first onto the floor. The uncomfortable shockwave of my teeth clacking together traveled through my jaw and to the top of my head. I flipped over, rubbing my chin with my palm. A dull throb of pain followed. I instinctively stuck my finger in my mouth, expecting a tooth to be missing, even though it wouldn't be. It didn't hit them quite hard enough for that.

Suddenly, a noise made me forget my pain.

There was a dead silence at first, and then it came again. It was a harsh, ragged breathing sound. Almost like someone with asthma had just sprinted a marathon. It was loud, wheezy and had a croupe-like edge to it. My body tensed up, and I began to feel around for my flashlight, but my hand didn't quite work well at that time.

The rugged breathing rose and fell, almost as if it was doing something that required it to stop every few seconds. Then, I began to hear a subsequent sound after every breathy huff. It was a skidding sound, as if something was being dragged.

The rhythm continued on. _Breath…drag…breath…drag…breath…_

Fumbling still, I was finally able to get my flashlight out from my pocket and turn it on. Further down the hall, I caught the horrific sight of a doctor, covered in blood and unsightly-looking sores, dragging a dead body across the hall and into a room. A huge hump stuck out in the doctor's back, so large it looked as if someone stuffed a couple of basketballs in the upper-back portion of his coat. His skin was bumped up like poison ivy, similar in fashion to the bartender's skin. When the doctor dragged the body, it left large blood stains like skid marks on the floor. After a moment, he passed through the door, towing the bloodied cadaver behind him. He closed the door, and it fell silent again.

Without any warning, my flashlight blanked out. Cursing, I started to bang on it, and finally gave up. Maybe it needed to cool down. Sometimes, flashlight batteries simply got too hot. I stuffed it back in my pocket and started to feel along the walls, when suddenly I heard footsteps.

It started slow and began to speed up. Listening intently to the acoustics, I realized with a knot in my stomach, that now something was moving its way towards me, and I couldn't see an inch in front of my face…

Chapter 3

Panicking, I fumbled for my shotgun, and only succeeded in dropping it. I wrenched my flashlight out of my jacket, clicking it on (and it worked again, oh thank you God it worked again) with as much speed as my hands would allow. I caught a split second glimpse of something white coming toward me, and the glint of something metallic and flat in the air. I jumped to the right, and the shiny object was jammed into the wall on my left. I swung around, aiming the flashlight on the thing that had just tried to kill me. What I saw sickened me.

It was a nurse, or what was formerly a nurse. The shiny reflection was from a long knife she held loosely at her side. She wore a standard nurse uniform, an old-fashioned one at that. But, resemblance of a nurse ended there. Her hair hung down in wet, tangled strands. The skin that showed through was rotted and covered in boils. When she stood back up, I saw that a beachball-sized tumor grew out from her back, (similar to the doctor's), causing her to hunch over. It didn't seem to impede her movement, for she came right back around towards me with no impediment.

This time, I had a light to guide me, and I was able to get my gun out the right way. My pistol in my right hand, I placed it on top of my left hand that wielded the pistol to steady my aim. I had seen the stance done numerous times in movies by cops and hoped that it proved to be a successful maneuver.

I opened fire, and the Magnum jumped in my hands. The nurse staggered back, a bullet hole opening up in her right shoulder. She swayed, but still came back at me. The second shot landed in her neck, blood pouring out of the large wound. Yet, still she continued. Finally, I got off a shot to her head, blowing it almost clean off her shoulders. The grotesque, boil-covered body of the mutated nurse fell to the ground, blood cascading over the corpse. Sighing, I felt a huge relief that these things could be killed. I gradually moved towards the lifeless body, my beam darting left and right all the while.

I stood over her, inspecting the body more. It almost looked like someone who had grown up near a nuclear waste facility. Much like the doctor's skin, it was jagged and had raised bumps all over, like a really horrible rash. And on top of that were the large boils. I had the feeling that if I poked one of those boils with a needle, some odd liquid would squirt everywhere, like a balloon full of ickory liquid. I struggled to keep myself from retching at the thought.

The sound of multiple footsteps stopped my expelling of bile, and I witnessed three nurses begin to round the corner towards me. The shots must have attracted them. Retreat seemed the best option, and I tried a nearby door. Jammed…just my luck. I tried another one to find the same result.

I kept trying until I found an open one at the end of the hall. Finally inside, I slammed the door behind me. I darted around the room, and grabbed a nearby desk. Sweat pouring, I dragged it across the room, blocking the door should the nurses try to break through.

Huffing, I slid to the floor, listening for the sounds. All I heard was the faint sound of foot halls, but they didn't seem to be coming any closer. Perhaps they weren't intelligent enough to try doors. Sighing, I turned my gaze to the space between two beds, and froze. A large puddle of blood pooled beneath the window, and a giant set of tentacles were drinking it. My stomach churned like a barrel of butter.

The sound was the most awful thing. It was a _shick and pop _of the tentacles sucking the blood through small feelers on the end. An orderly's body leaned against the bed on the left, the apparent source of blood. I turned away, not wanting to look at the sight anymore. I listened more for the sound of the nurses, and heard nothing. Perhaps I could sneak out, and try to make my way back to the elevator and get my shotgun back.

Getting up, my flashlight danced over the grotesque, brown-green tentacles drinking blood, and the light suddenly reflected off something. I held my beam on the spot for a moment, holding my hand up to block the reflected light, and took a reluctant step forward. In the dead orderly's rigormortis-like grip was a dull, gold key.

"If this is the right key, I've got some damn good luck," I said in disbelief. Everything was falling into place well. Far too well, if you ask me. Something was going to give at some point. I took another step forward, and suddenly one of the tentacles lashed out at me. I stumbled backward, almost falling on my buttocks. The tentacle went no further, unable to reach. It strained forward, trying to stretch itself to hopefully reach more fresh blood.

_Fresh blood…_

I reached into my jacket, and pulled out the packet from Kaufmann's office. I looked at it for a moment, and grabbed the sides, pulling out to open it. After a moment I pried it open and threw it forward, directly within the tentacles' reach. Immediately, the tentacles went into a feeding frenzy, grabbing the packet and drinking it with the hideous smacking noises. I shivered, thinking of those feelers clinging to my flesh, draining the blood from my own body.

Moving quickly, I reached forward and snatched the key out of the man's grasp, and jumped back a step. The tentacles were still feeding. I groaned, the sound making me nauseous. I examined the key thoroughly, looking for any clues to what it would unlock. There was no marker or anything stating the key's purpose.

"How am I supposed to know what this goes to?" I thought. The only way to find out was to use it. I had no other options. I could spend time looking for more keys, but with those weird nurses stalking around the place, I didn't want to wander any more than I had to. I at least could try, and if the key didn't work, I would just have to search the hospital even more, as much as I didn't like the idea.

So, I dragged the dresser away, and crept back out into the hallway. No sign of any nurses so far. I inched my way down the hallway, my gun ready to fire at any moment. Now closer to the entrance door, I focused my beam on the ground. About three feet from the door, my light shined on the barrel of my shotgun. I dashed for it, keeping my back to the entrance door, and facing away from it to spot any nurses. Just as I seized the gun, I heard a scream. The glint of multiple knives reflected off my flashlight's beam, and the nurses were running towards me.

I stuck my magnum into my belt, and reached behind me with my free hand, the shotgun trained towards the center of the nurses. My fingers only felt wood for a moment, and finally, the cold roundness of a metal doorknob. I grabbed it, turning my body as well as the doorknob, and then ran through the door and shut it in one fluid movement.

Afraid to turn my back to the door, I took my steps backwards towards the elevator. After a second or two, I felt the cold metal of the elevator doors, and I smacked the Down button for the elevator. I kept my gun steadied toward the door as I heard the hum of the elevator, and it finally came. In moments, I was back down to the first floor. I came out into the first floor, finding it in identical shape as the fourth floor was.

It had been changed into the Otherworld. Blood and rust covered the walls, giving off a rank and metallic smell. The walls were peeling and littered in cracks It reminded me that those things could be on this level as well, and I kept my shotgun out. I made my way to the basement stairs unmolested. In moments, I stood before the Basement Storeroom, in a blood-spattered hallway, a dark mirrored version of the real hospital.

_Or was the Dark version of the hospital the real one and the "regular" version actually unreal?_

Praying silently that I didn't have to go back upstairs, I slid the key into the keyhole. The key went in easily enough, but stopped. I tried to turn it, but it didn't work. No, no, it can't be. I turned it the other way, with no result. Finally, I shoved it in further, wiggling it back and forth vigorously. Then, my hopes ascended with the smooth "click" of the lock. This was the right key after all! I opened the door, feeling hopeful about my new discovery.

The room was small, much smaller than I expected. There was only a large shelf, a table, and a tall, skinny cabinet. Various medical supplies like pain medications, antibiotics, gauze wraps, IV's, needles, and bags of fluid lined the large shelf. The table only adorned a small lamp. The tall cabinet sat alone on the left wall, seeming out of place somehow. Before examining, I took some rolls of gauze from the larger shelf, wrapping my hand. The ache in my knuckles was intensifying, and I needed to cushion my hand from any further irritation or infection. As dingy as this nightmare world was, there was no telling what diseases lurked on the rustic walls.

I took two extra strength Tylenol to ease my pains, and went back to the cabinet. I opened it up, finding only large wraps of bandages. Stepping back, I noticed the shelf wasn't completely flat against the wall. I checked the sides, and noticed scratch marks on the floor, as if something had been dragged. Light bulbs went on in my brain, and I immediately started shoving the shelf to the side. I found it was almost too easy, and soon uncovered an aged, wooden door.

This was the moment. Without any hesitation, I opened the door to find a long flight of stairs leading down. They went down so far, my light didn't even show the bottom.

Down I went, and Lord only knows for how long. Further and further down the rabbit hole, Alice.

The light was much darker down here, so I had to take my time to keep from tripping. After what seemed like forever, I came to a short hallway. It was plain, cement and led to a single door at the end. I was through in mere moments.

I wasn't sure what I was seeing, my eyes adjusting to the light. A large fluorescent light buzzed loudly overhead, lighting the room just enough to see. There were some random pictures on the walls, but the point of interest was not on the walls but in the middle. A hospital bed soaked through with dried blood took the center stage, with a drip stand and a small dresser on both sides. I moved closer, noticing that a picture of Alessa took prominence on the dresser.

_Alessa was kept here?_

Wraps of gauze sat atop the bed, completely saturated with blood. What had happened to her? That girl who was in the classroom and appeared on my camera at the playground…did she die here? Suddenly, something moved in the back corner, where an end table sat. I shone my flashlight over there, and caught a glimpse of blonde hair.

Squinting in awe, I watched as a woman in a nurse's outfit climbed from underneath the table, her eyes glazed over. I started to reach for my gun, but realized that nothing was wrong with her. There was no large cancerous ulcer on her back, no blood caked on her face. In fact, she looked quite lovely. She was a tall, normal blonde woman, and obviously in distress. Upon standing, she froze for a moment, looking me over as if checking to see if I was okay. Our eyes met, and realization flashed in her eyes. In one quick movement she ran to me, snatching me up in a hug. She wept loudly, her shoulders shaking. Whoever this woman was, she was scared out of her wits, and very glad to see another normal live human being.

I stood there for a second, unsure of what to do. Awkwardly, I put my arms around her and held her. How strange, to be comforting a complete stranger. But I did. It felt like the right thing to do. There was no telling what this woman had been through, and obviously she'd encountered horrors as well. Perhaps even more than I had.

I don't know how long we stood there, holding each other, but it felt good. Not in a sensual way, it just felt good to feel the embrace of another person. They say that aside from smell, touch is one of the strongest senses attached to emotion.

Especially after all the horrible events that transpired, the embrace felt very good. I imagined for a moment, holding Jodie. Tears fought to the surface, but I was able to keep them under control...barely. I missed her so much, so badly. This wasn't Jodie here in real life, but for now I would pretend. Living a lie is better sometimes…

Her sobs eventually stifled, and she stepped back to look at me reproachfully.

"I'm sorry, I just…"

"It's alright…" I said soothingly. "You're safe now."

"Oh…it's so good to find someone who's….normal. What's your name?"

"Harry Mason. Uh….yours?"

"Lisa Garland…you're not from around here, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I was in town on vacation, and crashed my car. When I woke up, my daughter was gone. I've been searching all around town trying to find her. Have you seen a seven-year old girl around here? She's got short black hair, wearing a white and blue checkered dress?"

Lisa thought for a moment and shook her head.

"No, I'm afraid I haven't. I was in the storeroom, trying to get some supplies earlier today…or was it tomorrow. It's really kind of hard to tell now. Anyway, after I came down here I felt dizzy and passed out. When I woke up, everything had changed. I went upstairs, and there were the other nurses, but they were…different. They were like monsters, and tried to hurt me. So I came back down here, because it was safer. And then I found that door. That must be why they didn't want us in the storeroom. To hide this place. But, no one's here. I wonder what were they trying to hide? From the look of this , it looks like someone was kept here."

"I don't know…but who or whatever it is they were trying to hide, it's not here anymore. I think that maybe that doctor, Kaufmann has something to do with this."

"Dr. Kaufmann?! No! He's a great man! I work personally with him. He looks after us, takes care of us pretty well. Why would you think that?"

"I…I don't really know. I met him upstairs, in the Examination Room. He'd killed one of those creatures. He just seemed like he was up to something, and kind of left me in a big hurry. It's hard to explain, it was just his demeanor. You'd think he would want to team up with someone else, with the way things are. Instead, he just left me in a hurry."

"Sounds like maybe you're just on edge, maybe even a little paranoid, Harry. Strange situations can cause people to act strange themselves. I've been a nurse long enough to experience it from patients and their realtives. Besides, he might have remembered patients or others who needed his help."  
"Maybe..maybe you're right. Perhaps he had patients still...before the change. This place, this town. It changes. I don't know how to explain it. Sometimes, there's this siren, and everything gets dark. And then, everything changes to this." I pointed to the room, noting rust and blood on the walls. "It did this at the elementary school, too. What's going on here, Lisa?"

"I…I don't know. I've never seen anything like this before. Weird stuff happens in this town, and the some of the people are acting strange too. But it's nothing at all like this. I'm sorry, I just don't know."

"Yeah," I sighed, and looked at her. She really was quite pretty, with her fair skin and oval face. I had a sudden urge to kiss her, and stopped myself. "Let's get out of here," I blurted out.

"That's…probably a good idea," she laughed nervously, and we both stood up. We made our way out of the hidden basement, up the stairs, and back up to the first floor in comfortable silence. Having the presence of another normal human being made me feel much better. As we walked by the Examination Room, I suddenly began to feel faint. I wobbled, putting my hand on the wall to steady myself. The walls seemed to move of their own accord. It felt like the floor was moving underneath me. Had I been drugged?

"Whoa…" I uttered. Lisa grabbed my shoulder, helping to steady me.

"Harry, you alright?" She asked, concern set in her eyes.

"I…I need to lie down."  
"Here. Let's go in here," she replied, opening the Exam Room door. She helped me in, and I sat on the Examination table. Everything seemed wobbly, my equilibrium thrown off. Lucky that I had a nurse to watch over me now.

"You seem to be dizzy," she probed.

"Yeah, I just…my head feels fuzzy. And it's like I have Vertigo or something. The walls are moving…"

"Did you take any medicine from the storeroom?" She asked, more concern building in her face.

"I just took some Tylenol for my aches. I got hurt a couple of times around town…."

Suddenly, the rising wail of the siren began, and my head was livid with pain. I clutched the sides of my head, my cranium a throbbing mass of aches. It felt like needles were crawling in my head, while a vise tightened around it Red spots sprouted in my vision, making it almost impossible to see. The siren began to reach its fever pitch now.

"Harry? Harry?!" Lisa yelled, rushing to my side. I felt myself fall over to the floor and completely blacked out. The last thing I heard was the falling, continual wail of the sirens…

Chapter 4

My eyes opened, taking in my surroundings. I was back in the Examination Room, but it was normal again. Thin layers of fog drifted through the room. I sat up, noting that I was still on the examination table. The door opened in front of me, and Dahlia Gillespie stepped into the room.

"You! Tell me everything you know. What's going on here? I know you're behind this!" I tried to stand up, but found I was still a little woozy, and fell back down to the table.

"Darkness," she began in her creeping voice, preparing her apocalyptic speech. "The town is being devoured by darkness. Strength must overcome petty desire. Childish sleep talk. I did not cause this, Mr. Mason…but I knew this day would come."

"What are you talking about? I don't understand a word of this! You're talking crazy!"

"Am I now? You don't believe the evidence of your own eyes, but you should. Have you not seen the crest mark on the ground all over town?"

"So that's what I saw in the schoolyard. That pentagram-type symbol. What does it mean?"

"It is the mark of Samael. Whatever happens…don't let it be completed. Only you can stop it now. The Other church is your next destination." At that, she placed a key on a nearby table, and swiftly went through the door.

"Wait!" I called, and dashed after her in a stumble. Out in the hallway, there was no sign of her. She had disappeared once again. The Other Church? What was she talking about? That key she left may have some answers. I rushed into the room, and snatched up the key. It was labeled "Director."

To me, this entire experience was starting to feel like some kind of old role-playing video game. Finding one key to unlock one door which leads to another, which leads to another. An odd feeling.

Walking over to the Director's Office, I unlocked it and stepped inside. There was a large conference table and a small office area in the back. Nothing else seemed interesting there, so I searched the office. A safe sat under the desk, open.

_Well, that defeats the purpose of a safe, doesn't it?_

Inside was a small vial of strange red liquid and a note. A small, hand-made label on the vial read "Aglaophotis." An acrid smell emanated from the bottle. What in the world was this? I wasn't a medical expert, but certainly never heard of Aglaophotis. Were these the White Claudia or part of the drugs that were being dealt here in Silent Hill? If so, I needed to keep it for evidence. Perhaps Cybil could use it for something. I stored it in my coat pocket with a sense of accomplishment for once. I took the note out, and it read.

"Norman, Thank you so much for letting me use your safe. Should the need arise, you may need to use this yourself. You know how complicated this situation is. If things get…out of control, this will purge any major problems should they arise. You'll know what I mean if the time comes. I have one myself and had this as a backup but you may have it. If only you knew what it took to create this. Anyway, I have made my deliveries out this week to Gordon, the Post Office, the Town Center, and the 'Other' Church at the Green Lion. I'm assured that the police are still chasing their tails. Good day, and thank you once again.

With Concern,

Kaufmann"

I took it all in. So, Kaufmann _was_ in on everything, after all. It was just as I had expected. I stuffed the note into my pocket, eager to show Cybil should I find her. Now, if I could find Cheryl, I could make it out of here _and_ expose this drug situation going on here. This note came just in time to clue me in. The Other Church Dahlia had mentioned was tied in with the Green Lion.

I took out my map, and went through all the stores. Eventually, I found it. At the very upper right of the map, there was a store called the Green Lion Antique Shop. That was my destination to the Other Church somehow. With a newfound direction, I went out into the misty streets of Silent Hill once again.

About halfway up the street, I felt like something was following me. I stopped, surveying the streets around me. If something was nearby, I doubt if I could find it with the dense fog in the air. I looked to my right, and noted the broken glass of the Post Office. That thing that had come in…maybe it was a different monster than the one killed by Kaufmann…

I now began to walk faster, feeling my heart rate start to increase. If that thing came here once, it would come again.

Dismissing the thought, I continued down the road in trepidation. This fog…it makes it nearly impossible to relax. There could be all sorts of things hiding near me, and I wouldn't even know. Then, the feeling of something bumping my shoe made me stop. I bent down, and found a framed picture of….Cheryl, my wife, and I taken at Christmas? How could this have gotten here? I had this sitting on an end table at home.

I picked it up, examining the smiles on all of our faces. So serene, so happy. Before the cancer…the good years. Cheryl was so precious then. She still was now, but there something about that age of three that just felt magical. It was like she was an angel, sent to us from God himself. She was our life then. I brushed my hand across the photo delicately, touching the face of Jodie. Then, the photo and frame evaporated into thin air.

What? Was this real?

A loud scream filled the air, pulling me back and chilling my blood. The sudden flutter of wings reminded me I needed to start moving. I ran forward, trying to unstrap my shotgun as I made my way north. The fluttering stayed with me all the way to the intersection where I turned towards the Green Lion. As long as I kept running, perhaps it wouldn't be able to attack me. I was wrong.

My gun held tightly in my hands, I decided to chance a look behind me into the sky, to see if I could locate it and get in a lucky shot. My timing was stupendous. At the exact moment, I looked back, I saw a large mass of gray-green flesh swooping down at me. Large talons stood out even in the dense mist. I cringed, trying to hunker down out of its reach, but it didn't do any good. I felt the claws dig in, and fortunately for the jackets protection it wasn't my skin. Terrified, I felt the sensation of being lifted up and soon found myself airborne. In seconds, I was roughly thirty feet into the air, soaring over the misty streets. My shotgun fell from my grasp ten feet up, and I had trouble getting to my handgun. I decided that I had no choice but to struggle out of my jacket but first I need to this thing to lower me.

I began thrashing and elbowing the thing, making it droop a little bit, but not much lower. Its grip loosened a bit, and I managed one arm out of my coat, freeing my arm. I reached into my holster, and pulled out the Magnum. I aimed it behind me, straight into the thing's wing, and squeezed the trigger. The report went out loudly, a deafening roar into the silent air despite the fog's dampening effect. A scream of pain followed from the pteradactyl creature, and it started to drop. Finally, it got to about ten feet, and I pointed it straight at its other wing. It dropped further, strugglingeven more. It stayed barely high enough where I couldn't stand.

I took my arm out of the other sleeve, but didn't get out of the creature's grasp still. The talons had hooked into the flak jacket as well, so I had no choice but to ditch it. With a grunt, I struggled my way out of the jacket and dropped to the ground. The beast lifted up with the lack of weight, and moved forward still. I hit the pavement hard, rolling fast. The impact put a stinging pain in my shoulder, and I clutched it automatically. My fall from earlier was jarred, and my shoulder didn't like it much.

Looking around me, I was a bit disoriented. I wasn't sure where this flying freak had dropped me at. I readied my Magnum as I stood up, and it was a good thing. The creature had come back for me. Its wings blown to bloody shreds, it walked unsteadily on its legs towards me. It got within five or so feet of me to get in a decent shot. I pulled the trigger, and nothing happened. I pulled it again in disbelief, listening to the hollow click of an empty chamber. The rest of my ammunition was in the flak jacket. It lunged at me, and I dove to the side. The creature left huge scratch marks in the pavement where I was only moments before. Seeing what it did to the pavement, I shuddered to think if that had been me…

I turned, running in the other direction. It was a wise move, because the creature was slowing down now. In a matter of minutes, I realized that I was somewhere near the post office. I ambled around, and pin-pointed the area where I was first attacked. My sense of direction came in handy for I found the shotgun within a minute. I held it ready, making my way cautiously back to the Antique Shop. I was on edge the entire way, looking around nervously.

Then, out of a dark alleyway, a flash of green came at me. I stepped back reflexively and fired, my shotgun thundering through the streets. The blast sent the shrieking green menace backwards, blood pouring out of its chest. It staggered, and finally fell over. It twitched for a moment, and went limp. I stopped, and suddenly started laughing uncontrollably. Falling to my knees, peals of laughter bellowed out from my stomach. I tried to stop, but couldn't seem to will myself into doing so. It was out of control, like something else making me laugh.

After a minute, my stomach ached so hard I had to pinch myself to make myself stop. Reality suddenly hit. Was the fog taking its toll on me, making me go stark-raving-mad? First I completely imagined a photo of my daughter and my wife that disappeared, and now I was laughing for no reason.

I stood up, my breaths finally becoming regulating at an even pace. I made myself focus, thinking over my destination.

After collecting myself, I drifted through the misty streets. The snow had started to fall again, the white flecks cooling my red face I began to wonder how Cybil was faring. As dangerous as this place was, even a cop might not make it. Then again if I was able to survive this long, and I'm only a journalist, then surely a cop could.

Coming closer to my destination, I noticed a large print on the side of a tall structure that read "Silent Hill Town Center." This was one of the other places in the note where the Whit Claudia was delivered. A video store with a large cracked window donned a pyramid stack of TV's, all old and dusty. Bugs crawled over them, probably laying eggs among all the old equipment. Then, the TV's suddenly crackled to life, light bursting from them.

At first, there was nothing on the TV, just a simple snowy static screen with that irritating white noise. It complemented the snowy day here in Silent Hill. The volume was cranked up loud and I almost had to cover my ears to keep the loud hissing from hurting my eardrums. Then, the image on the screen changed.

It was Cheryl on the screen. Not a very clear image, but enough for me to tell it was her. She was looking out to the camera yet I could feel that she was looking straight at me.

"Daddy!" She called. "Daddy! Help me!"

"Cheryl!" I yelled back, pressing my hands to the window that was spidered in cracks. "Can you hear me? Cheryl!"

"Daddy! Come find me! I'm at….."

The static started again, and her image began to distort, twisting to a long thin shape, and then to a short thick blob. She tried to talk again, but her voice would fade out simultaneously as the image warped.

"Cheryl!" I called through the glass once again, banging my fist on it. Then, there was nothing left but static. My heart thumped heavily and rapidly in my chest. I needed to hurry. Cheryl may not have much time before something would happen to her.

After walking a mere thirty feet more, I had approached my destination. The Green Lion Antique Shop. I saw that another one of the huge chasms had opened up at the road just after the shop.

The Green Lion Antique Shop was just like everything else in town, deserted and old. The pavement was cracked and littered with potholes, making it uneasy to walk on. I went through the opened door-barely on its hinges and donning a broken glass pane—and jumped at a bell that rang, signaling my entrance.

_Easy there, Harry. It's just a bell._

Inside, a small set of steps went down, leading into a large room. Small rays of light came in through the glass front door, making lines of dust in the air. Walking down and into the shop, I flickered on my flashlight, and for some odd reason, I immediately felt relaxed. Straight ahead was the check-out counter, unused for years. The rest of the shop was simply merchandise, with no decoration of any kind. The items were random and disorganized, all clumped together in heaps. There were a slew of lamps, an oriental rug, some red couches lined with gold, and other such antique commodities.

"The way they got it put together, it looks more like a storage unit," I said aloud. I walked through, running my hand over some of the items, and clapping the dust off. The smell of mothballs were very prevalent. My beam traveled slowly over the width and breadth of the store, but that didn't last very long. It was a very small store, indeed.

Once again, a better storage unit than a shop, really. Against the back wall, a clock stood alone, looking like the kid in softball who was picked last. My instinct seemed to pull me toward it which I now learned to trust since they had guided me through so much.

It was an old-time grandfather clock, and didn't budge when I tried to move it. The weight wasn't what kept it from being moved. It felt like there was something holding it into place. I then began fiddling with it, moving the gold pendulums that swayed back and forth. The hands began to move, and I tried to use various patterns to see if it would do anything. Finally, after setting the short hand and long hand to 12, I heard a loud click, and the clock chimed loudly then abruptly stopped covering the store once again in a dead silence.

Putting my hands on the sides of the clock, I shoved as hard as I could muster, and the clock slide a foot to the side, revealing a jagged hole just big enough to squeeze through. This must be the Other Church. As I began to check it, I suddenly heard the creaking steps from the front door. They picked up speed, and moved in my direction.

Something else had come for me…

**Interlude: Cybil's Side of Things**

_I hope Harry got my note_, I thought worriedly. My cell phone had died, and I assumed that his had as well. I'd been wandering the streets aimlessly, searching all over the south end of Levin St. (on the south side of the chasm), Bloch, and Bradbury, trying to find a way out. Everywhere I turned, another hole had blocked me from any possible exit. I'd gone to the gas station, hoping that someone would be at least working there. There was always someone at the gas station. That was to no avail. Now, I sat behind the counter, resting my sore feet.

Nothing was going on in this town. No people, no sign of life whatsoever. I'd knocked on people's doors. No answers, and no one with lights on. The Balkan Church was completely empty, but I could have sworn I heard footsteps in there when I checked it. It must be m imagination running away with me.

That note I'd left Harry at the General Store was not much help. Once I'd closed the door behind me, I believe I somehow got it jammed. When I tried to go back in for some more supplies later, I found it thoroughly stuck.

_Me and my damn manners._

I guess hearing the "born in a barn" phrase over and over as a child sunk in, biting me in the end. Good etiquette is overrated, anyway.

The gas station was silent, save for my thoughts and the chewing of my delicious chocolate I'd found. Chocolate wasn't good for you, but many items had gone bad, and the great fact about candy was that it stayed good for a very long time. Besides, I was starving, and needed something to keep me going.

I began to relax, starting to doze a little bit. My thoughts went free, images of my hometown coming to my mind. The big ranch that my father owned. My big, sweet German Shepherd Dobey. Smells of pine and cypress in the fields. It was comforting, all so comforting and…

The sound of someone's shoes clacking on the pavement stirred me, and I unholstered my gun immediately.

"Hello?" I called, and the foot halls got closer, and then began to fade into the other direction which they came. The shoes sounded light and high with a clicking type sound, as if they were heels or little girl's Sunday dress shoes. Jumping up, I moved quickly around the counter and outside. I caught a quick glimpse of blue to my right, and picked up my speed.

"Hey!" I called. "Who's out there?!" There was no answer, but I could hear the shoes again now. Finally, I came to the east end of Old Silent Hill, and saw that the bridge was down. Odd. When I had come here earlier, the bridge was up. Why they would leave the bridge up to begin with made no sense to me. They wouldn't cut off that area of town for no reason, especially with this odd fog and snow.

Had Harry let the bridge down?

I kept moving, trying to stay in line with the sound of footsteps. Whoever it was, they were moving fast. I gulped mouthfuls of air as I ran, feeling the damp fog wrap around me like a heavy blanket. This fog was so unsettling…

Finally, I caught up to the figure, on the edge of the bridge. It was a navy blue velvety dress, and the hair was long and jet-black. She looked remarkably similar to Harry Mason's daughter, but something wasn't quite right. But from what I could see, it might as well be her. Not wanting to scare her away, I tucked my gun back into my holster.

What was her name again?  
"Cheryl?" I called. That was it, Cheryl! The girl stepped up to the edge, and turned to face me. Her face was gaunt, her lips turned into a neutral look that showed great sadness or lack of emotion…it could pass for either.

"It's okay, sweetie. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a police officer." Cheryl showed no response.

"My name's Cybil, Cybil Bennett. You're safe now."

The little girl then smiled, gradually and with a bit of a sinister edge. It definitely wasn't a happy or relieved smile. It was an "I'm-about-to-do-something-bad" kind of smile. Suddenly, this little girl didn't look so innocent anymore

"I'm safe now," she repeated back with no emotion. It was like she was mocking my statement about being safe.

"Y-yes, yes you are."

"You aren't, though." Her words seemed to carry a heavy weight to them, and I could helpt but believe her.

"What…what do you mean, sweetie?"

"They haven't found you yet, but they will. They always do. It's inevitable. They found Harry. And now they're going to find you." Then, she turned, and got onto the cement railing of the bridge.

"Cheryl! Stop!" I screamed, and ran towards her. Before I could get to her, she stepped off of the guardrail, and I winced. But there was no splash. I ran to the edge, and looked over the water. Cheryl simply stepped off, and continued to walk as if there were an invisible ground there.

_What in the…_

She continued stepping forward in the air above the lake, and the girl that I wasn't sure was Cheryl anymore began to take on a very hazy look. Almost as if she was a ghost. I'd never believed in ghosts before, but after some of the strange happenings I'd witnessed here, my status as a believer was rapidly changing.

"Cheryl!" I called, and then there was a response. Except now, it wasn't aloud. It was in my head.

_"I'm not Cheryl," _the voice said_. "My name is Alessa. Now leave me alone!"_

The words seemed to pierce my brain, and I clutched the sides of my head. As soon as it came, it was gone. The only remnant of the pain was a small, throbbing sensation. I leaned against the side of the bridge, watching as the little girl in the dark blue dress moved further and further south out into the lake.

"It looks like she's going towards the Amusement Park," I whispered. Even now, in the thickness of the fog, I could still make out some lights and shapes of large structures from the Lakeside Amusement Park. Strange for that to be on among so many other things being off.

Then, the little girl vanished, covered by the thick bank of fog. Somehow, I knew I had to get to the Amusement Park. Something really weird and messed up was going on here, and I had to find out, if not for me, for the safety and the security of the citizens here and for Cheryl.

I mentally went back through the roads that led through town. Then, I remembered that there was another way to the Lakeside area. It must be through one of the streets in Central Silent Hill, perhaps Crichton or Simmons St. I wasn't completely sure, but I knew that there was nothing else for me here. My best bet was to see what was available in the shopping district.

I thought about all the things that Cheryl, or Alessa, had said as I made my way into the Central district. She said her name was Alessa, and that sounded very familiar. If only I could place it. My mind wandered and searched, but the name didn't catch up with anything quite yet.

As I passed the police station, I suddenly remembered the case that was on-going in Silent Hill that left them stumped. Some kind of drug trafficking was going around but there were not many leads. The few things they knew was the drug was called White Claudia, a powerful hallucinogenic. There were some loose connections to it with cult activity, but no solid leads.

The funny thing about Silent Hill was, everybody got real quiet whenever you mentioned anything about a cult. Couldn't get a word ouf of 'em about it, even though it was known that that cults were active in Silent Hill. I'm sure some police officers may be involved with keeping it well hidden and who knows who else.

When the town was first settled, many of the original townsfolk practiced some strange religion. It was connected to a lot of paganistic rituals, and even sacrifices. As the town grew larger, rifts began to form between the cultists and everyone else. At one point, the later settlers tried to expel the earlier settlers. There was some bloodshed, and they eventually made a treaty. The agreement was that both settlers could live in town together and the earlier settlers could continue practicing their religion, but they would do it away from the town in seclusion. After that, things seemed fine and talk of the cultist activities, ceased.

About twenty years ago, reports of strange sightings commenced. Over time, they grew more and more frequent, and then suddenly everyone just stopped talking about it. It was strange and hopefully meant that everything had stopped completely but I couldn't help but wonder if there was a conspiracy with it that scared everyone so much they didn't dare talk.

I mulled over all of this as I trekked through town, not really having a particular direction. Then, I heard some noises up ahead. I ran forward, trying to place the source of the commotion. After a minute or two I came to a sight that scared me stiff. A trail of blood led me to a blood corpse of…I wasn't really sure what it was.

Getting a closer look, I could only guess that it was kind of gigantic bat or, a pteradactyl? That was it. I remember seeing pictures in books of a grayish winged creature, with a long skinny head. It seemed like the closest approximation to it, at least. Then again, there was not much left to relate it, anyway. Someone had blown it to bits, with what seemed to be a shotgun. Traces of pellets littered the ground.

When I heard the struggle, it hadn't been long ago. Perhaps I could find the beast-killer.

_Oh, God. Please let it be Harry. I thought._

Harry seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, but this town had some abnormalities to it that could freak out even the most level-headed of people. I felt guilty for not believing him about the monster children he told me about. Perhaps wandering the town alone was my punishment for not believing him. Not everyone in this world was lying or crazy.

I was getting to be so lonely, feeling so abandoned. A couple of times, I even had random thoughts of suicide, popping in my head from out of nowhere. It almost seemed like a second voice was talking in my head. The thoughts really worried me, and it completely caught me off guard. I had never had thoughts like that ever before. I could almost swear this town was making me think it, sometimes.

Near the intersection of Simmons and Sagan St., I suddenly heard foothalls moving north on Simmons. I started to move until I heard a second odd noise from behind me. The second noise was much closer, and so I investigated. I walked slowly, taking in my surroundings a bit at a time. This fog was such good cover, I had to be careful so that I wasn't ambushed Moments later, I found the source of the noise.

Near a closed-down store, a figure was rummaging around. I moved closer to get a better look at the stranger. When I neared, I saw that the figure was very tall—unnaturally tall even-and had a fuzzy outline. He or she was digging into a trashcan, rummaging like a hungry animal. A hungry homeless person, or something more? Following my instincts, I unholstered my gun and sidestepped, to keep a safe distance, just in case.

"Hello?" I called, my voice now sounding weak. The figure spun around, and I saw that the fuzzy shape was fur. It was shaped much like a man, very tall and muscularly lean. The face was almost indistinguishable, due to the large amount of fur sticking out all over. The only details I could make out of its face were the eyes and mouth. As it saw me, its mouth opened into an evil grin, its short pointy teeth standing in straight, even rows. The eyes were small red slits, almost glowing at me from the dark.

_It's an ape-man. _I thought immediately.

Without a moment's notice, it charged at me. The creature's movement was so fast, I barely had time to react. In mid-jump, I instinctively dropped, and felt the furry large mass sail overhead. I pivoted on my right heel, my gun trained on the massive furry beast. Once it hit the pavement it turned around to face me once again, and began another charge. When it ran, it moved on all fours, using its arms to propel itself forward and giving it a very wide gait. It was closing the distance fast.

This time I was able to fire off a round.

The shot hit it in the shoulder, and its pace dropped. I fired again, and it staggered back a step. It picked back up to run again, and I got off a third shot as the creature leapt towards me, in mid-air. The gun shot cut its leap short, dropping it straight to the ground. A pool of blood started to form underneath.

I stood there for a moment, my adrenaline pumping wildly. Shock set in, and I felt my body going stiff, but I held on to a nearby brick wall for support.

_Just breathe in and out deeply, Cybil_ I reminded myself.

I felt like I might pass out, and I sat down, putting my head between my knees and continued to breathe deeply. After a moment, the feeling passed. Turning back to look at the crumpled, hairy monster, I immediately felt a huge twange of guilt again for not believing Harry. This town was cursed, probably by those cultist bastards. It had to have some kind of connection. What else could create such insane monsters? I had to get a hold of Harry!

Pulling myself together, I turned and jogged toward the opposite direction, where I heard the footsteps earlier. Before long, I came upon a large chasm just like the others in town. The sound of a loud clang turned my attention back behind again. It led me to the Green Lion Antique Shop, so I slowly went in.

I made my way as quietly as humanly possible, smelling the pungent scent of mothballs. Whoever ran this store had not used it in some time. That was the other thing that bothered me about everything. Not only did Silent Hill look abandoned, but everything looked like it was abandoned for years. And I knew that wasn't true, because I had been to Silent Hill only a month earlier, and nothing looked the way it did now. It dawned on me that nothing short of evil was at work in this town.

I walked through the open doorway into the main area of the shop, a check-out counter directly in front. I saw that the store itself looked misty, due to the fog pouring in through the broken window. I then heard someone's footstep s and I slowed my pace, creeping around the corner. Not six feet away, someone had their back to me, and was staring at a jagged hole in the wall.

They suddenly whipped around to face me, and I had a short-barreled shotgun pointed right in my face.

Chapter 5

"Cybil!" I cried, taking in the blue cop uniform and blonde hair. I put away my gun.

She was alive! All the worrying and fear that she had been hurt was gone. Here she was, standing right before me in good health.

"Thank God you're alright, Harry!" She said, putting her gun away as well. "After seeing some things here, I started to think that you may not have made it. Things are much worse here than I thought. Not just some, but almost all the roads are blocked off. No cars will start, no one's at home, my cel phone's not working, and neither is my radio. Something's seriously wrong here."

"What do you mean, saw things?"

"Well, I saw that dead green flying thing. Right before I got here, this weird ape-man attacked me. Are these things all over town?"

"Yes, Cybil. They are. I've run into various things. Insane monsters. Those demon children. Strange shadow creatures…but anyway, it's good to see you. What brought you here, anyway?"

"Well, I heard someone walking down this way, and followed it to you."

"Oh, I see. Have you seen Cheryl, by chance?"

"Well, kind of…"

"What do you mean? Where was she?"

"Well, I'm not completely sure it was really her. I was at the gas station, and heard footsteps. I followed them to the bridge, and then caught up with this girl, who looked nearly identical to Cheryl. But she wore a different dress. It was a dark blue dress, kind of old-fashioned. When I talked to her, she told me that…that she wasn't Cheryl. She said her name was Alessa. And that they would come find me."  
"Then what? Did you get her?"

"Well, she stepped off of the bridge…but she didn't fall. She just…floated. It was like she was walking on air. Like some kind of ghost. She was walking toward the Lakeside Amusement Park, you could even see the lights from the bridge. I wanted to follow her but the south part of Bachman road is blocked off, too."

"Hmm…peculiar."

"Yes. What about you, Harry? You found anything?"

"Well, I met this woman named Dahlia Gillespie. She was very strange, and I've heard other things about her, too. She's been leaving me key, clues, and all sorts of weird things. Spouting off about Path of the Hermit and other nonsense."  
"Dahlia? The town nut, from what I remember. She's been under suspicion of cult activity for a long time. After her daughter died in the fire…." Suddenly Cybil's face lit up. "Oh my God, I never even made that connection. That little girl was Dahlia's daughter! How can that be, though?"

"Wait, she died in the fire?"

"Yeah, it was all over the papers. Dahlia got even nuttier than before. That fire from her house is what caused so many other buildings to catch. She became more allegedly involved with cult activities after that. Some think she was trying to bring Alessa back."

"Bring her back from the dead? You weren't kidding about her being crazy. Although losing a child…that's hard to take. Odd that she looks so much like Cheryl…I can't believe it's a coincidence. "

"I wish I could say. I just don't know, Harry."

"Dahlia…she said something about the town being devoured by darkness. Do you know what she was talking about?"

"Darkness? She's probably on drugs. There's been an on-going investigation for a couple of years here. We think its related to the cult activity. People have been selling them to tourists, and residents in town as well. We can't seem to pinpoint where's it coming from. Every interrogation has come up short with anyone using them, so we can't even locate the sellers. From what I understand, Dahlia's involved we just haven't found any solid evidence."

"How do you know so much about what's going on here? You're from Brahms, right?"

"I am. I'm friends with one of the officers here so we chat every now and then. He'll tell me some of the cases going on here, I'll discuss some of the cases in Brahm."

"I see…well, I believe I may have some answers for you." I pulled the two notes out of my pocket, one to Kim Gordon, and the other from Kaufmann to the Director. She read over it, her eyes widening in surprise. After scanning them twice, she stuffed them in her pocket.

"I should have seen that. Kaufmann had some loose connections to Dahlia before. We need to arrest them when we see them next. This is more than enough to implicate them." Then, Cybil looked at the jagged hole in the wall. "So, what's this all about?"

"Well, I just found this after messing around with the clock. Dahlia told me to find the Other Church, and it led me here. This clock unlocked something, and I was able to move it aside. There's probably a storage of drugs inside according to this note."

"We should go in and check it out, then."

"No!" I shouted forcefully, and then wasn't sure why I yelled all of the sudden. "I'm sorry, it's just. All through town, I've been left all these clues, and…Dahlia said that a path was laid out before me. Somehow, I feel that I'm supposed to do this. I just…feel it. Besides, if something happens to me, then at least a cop who can do something about this drug trafficking is left alive. I'm just a journalist. If something happens, promise me you'll find Cheryl for me?"

For a moment, I could see she wanted to protest, but then her eyes changed. An emotional connection was brought into place, and she could feel my drive. I was doing this all for Cheryl. I think she could feel what I felt, and see why it was important for me.  
"Alright. Go ahead. But if anything fishy happens, get right back here, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." I turned, and squeezed through the hole. I was in a short, stony corridor. I followed it down further and into another hallway. This hall was short, and I could make out something strange not far ahead. It was an altar, adorned with a red and gold cloth, and two candles. The strange mark that I knew now to be Samael was etched in gold on the red cloth. A bloodstain was splattered on the side of the altar. What happened here?

"What in the…" I moved closer, inspecting the strange altar. A small ceremonial knife sat atop the altar, ominously dripping with fresh blood.

The Other Church. This must be the Other Church.

Shivering, I inspected the place some more. With frustration, I found no more clues as to where I should go. As I turned my back to leave, I then heard a loud crackling noise, and a small feeling of heat in the room. Turning back around, I was shocked to see a column of fire sitting atop the altar. It blazed fiercely, illuminating the room with its incandescent light. Moving closer, I could faintly make out a shape in the fire. It looked like the Samael symbol…

Then the sirens began to wail again….

"No!" I cried, the sound of the wailing in my head once again. The pain intensified, and I slumped to the floor. Suddenly, I was gone. I seemed to float in the air, above the altar, completely out of my body.

"Harry?!" I heard a cry from the other room.

_Cybil! Stay out!_

But she had already starting coming into the room. She stepped through the other hole in the wall, and looked ahead in astonishment.

"What in the…" She took in the sight of the altar and the blazing fire. "Harry, where did you go?" My consciousness watched her, and I screamed internally for her to get out. Then, my consciousness slipped far away again.

"Harry? Wake up! Are you alright?" I instantly recognized the voice to be that of Lisa's. I sat up, feeling a wave of dizziness wash over me.

"Easy there. You don't want to fall," she steadied me with her hand. "I thought I'd almost lost you. You didn't have a pulse. But you were thrashing as if you were having a bad dream." Her eyes were lined with worry, and I could see true care in them. She had just found a normal person in this lonely, abandoned town. I'm sure losing me would be devastating to her.

"Yeah, I..I guess I was. Problem is, I'm still here. My bad dream has thus continued."  
"You can say that again," she muttered, still fixed intently on me. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." I put my feet down onto the floor, standing up. I was relieved to see that the hospital was still at its normal state. I wonder why Lisa wasn't here when I woke up the first time?

"Lisa, when did the hospital change back to normal?"

"I…I'm not sure. I fell asleep watching you after you passed out. The sound of a siren woke me up five minutes ago, and it was normal again."

Looking over at Lisa, I could that she looked ill. Her gaze was at me, but it seemed far off and glossy. There were some lines in her face that were not present earlier. Her eyes looked bloodshot. Both of her hands shook in her lap, and she clutched them together when she noticed I was looking.

"You don't look too well yourself there, Lisa."

"I'm fine. Nothing you need to worry about. It's just this place…and being alone. I get depressed if I'm left alone too long. That's all. It used to be worse, but it's kind of hard not to feel bad in this town. It's like there's this weight to it. I think it's the fog." She glanced towards the window, where the fog continued its relentless post in the town.

"I'm sorry to hear that." There was an awkward pause. "Do you know a woman in town named Dahlia Gillespie?"

"Dahlia? Oh yeah, she's kind of famous around here, or infamous to be more correct. She never goes about town much anymore, so I don't know that much about her personally. I did hear that her daughter died in a fire and supposedly she's been even more crazy ever since.

"Yeah, that's what Cybil told me, too."

"Cybil? Who's that?"

"She's a cop. I ran into her earlier, when I…" I thought about telling Lisa everything, about waking up in the misty normal hospital, talking to Dahlia, the note from Kaufmann, and finding Cybil. Yet, I wasn't sure if she would believe me. Cybil didn't believe me at first, either. "When I first came into town, a cop named Cybil was here. We got separated."

"Oh, I see."

"Anyway…I ran into that Dahlia woman. She says the town is being devoured by "the darkness". Do you have any idea what she's talking about?"

"Devoured by the darkness? Not really. I mean, I _think _I know what she's referring to. Before this place was turned into a resort, the townspeople here were on the quiet side and very secretive. Everybody followed some kind of queer religion. Weird occult stuff, you know. Like black Magic and even sacrifices. The later townspeople that moved in weren't into that kind of stuff. There was much controversy over kicking out the earlier settlers because of their pagan beliefs. Around that time, people would disappear for no reason. Evidently, things like that used to happen a lot around that time. This was all before the resort area with the amusement park and everything, when there wasn't really anything else out here. Everyone was so flipped out, and so they blamed it on the earlier settlers. They all came to an agreement finally, and everything was alright after that.

"Last time I heard anything about it was...gosh, years ago. It was things people talked about, as if they were fairy tales. But I knew there was plenty of truth in them. Over time, more and more people started to get used to the weird occult stuff, even if it wasn't done in town. After a while, it was normal and people whispered of it here and there. And they never told anything to visitors. And as far as the occult stuff, no one dared criticized it. When someone talked about it too much, they would just disappear. Then, no one talked about it at all because they were afraid."

_That sounds right. It coincides with what Cybil told me._

"Lisa, can you tell me how to get to the Lakeside area?

"The lake? That's real easy. You just take Bachman Road.

"But the road's blocked."

"Oh. Well, that's the only way out there. So I guess you can't get there."

"Are you sure? There's gotta be another way. I think Cheryl somehow made it over there. Can you think of any other possible way to get there?"

"She got there? Strange. Well, the only way is across the lake itself, or…under the lake. That's it!"

"What?"

"There's a water works over by my old elementary school. There's an underground tunnel out there used for inspections or something. I remember hearing it runs all the way to the lakeside area."

"Really? You think I can get to the lake from there?"

"I've never been down there myself, so I'm not positive. Besides, it's all fenced off to keep people out."

"If there's a chance, I've got to try. Cheryl's life depends on me."

"I understand, but please don't go! I don't want to be alone. It's so scary. I can't stand it!"

"How about coming with me, then? This hospital may not be the safest place in the world, either. I can't promise you anything, but if you're with me I'll do my best to protect you."

"I want to, Harry. I really do. It's just…"

"Just what?"

"I don't know. I... somehow I feel I'm not supposed to leave this place. I can't explain it, really. I feel like something really bad will happen if I leave. I…I just can't. Maybe it's just my nerves, but it still feels safer here. I know that sounds starnge and I'm sorry, it's nothing personal. I think I'll just stay here."

"Well, if you're completely sure. I can't drag you out of here with me. Just wait here a little longer. I'll be back as soon as I find my daughter. Promise, okay?"

"Okay, Harry. I believe you. Be back soon."

"I will."

Reluctantly, I left the Examination Room with Lisa sitting alone. Guilt riddled me, but I knew that there wasn't much else I could do. Sitting with Lisa just to keep her comfortable would not help Cheryl, and forcing her to would be too much trouble. I had to find Cheryl, at any cost.

I checked my supplies on me and came to find that my coat and flak vest were gone…so it wasn't really a dream after all. It was like I teleported back here…such odd things here.

Stepping out into the parking lot, I was greeted by a familiar sight. Covering the parking lot was that same glowing red mark of Samael that was in the schoolyard. The glowing red pentagram illuminated the parking lot, seeming even brighter in the dark night sky. The hospital was now branded. What did this strange symbol mean? I was sure that Dahlia knew more than what she was telling me.

If I could find her, I could force an answer out of her. The Mark had much to do with the monsters, definitely, because the Nightmare World appeared wherever these symbols did. I just needed more time to figure this out. For now, I had to get back to the Midwich Elementary School.

Heading at full speed, I quickly made my way to the first intersection, at Crichton and Sagan. Being closer to Old Silent Hill somehow made me feel better, like going back to see an old friend. You can imagine how even better it felt to see Cybil Bennett.

"Harry?!" She called, squinting through the fog.

"Cybil! It's me," I called, and moved towards her.

"Where did you go?" She questioned me. "I saw you go in, and ten minutes later I didn't' hear a word from you. So I went in, and you were gone! But there was this weird fire on the altar. Did you do that?"

"No, I didn't. I turned around to come back, and it was just there. I passed out and…turned back up at the hospital."

"Even weirder…the fire wasn't burning anything…like it was a hologram of some sort. Yet there was heat coming off of it…none of this makes any sense. Was there anything there at the hospital?"

"Well, I talked to Lisa, and she said there was a waterworks tunnel at the elementary school that led to the Lakeside area. It's our only choice."

"Great! Wait…who's Lisa?"

"Lisa Garland. She's a nurse at the hospital. The only normal one, at least…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there were other nurses, but…not normal. Hideous, mutated ones…much like that bartender. I think it was that Mark of Samael. It was in the parking lot of the hospital, and there was another one just like it in Midwich Elementary. It's a symbol of that cult. Wherever it shows up, everything turns into this nightmare world. Everything changes, covered in blood and rust."

"…I see. Look, I don't think you're crazy anymore. I just… It's a lot to take in, you know?"

"Oh, trust me I understand. I'm waiting to wake up for the first time, too. This all seems like a bad dream."

"So wait, you just left her there at the hospital all by herself? How come you didn't bring her with you?"

"She wouldn't come. I kept asking to make sure and she just kept saying she felt safer there. And I can't make her come with me anyway. Once we find a way out we can go back for her. You know, I think that this Alessa girl is very much related to these weird events. Why else have we been seeing her? Her ghost is haunting this place, that's for sure. Maybe she's trying to tell us something."

"You may be on to something, we just have to keep finding more evidence. But you're friend Lisa, I should probably look after her. You seem to be able to take care of yourself so far, and she seems scared. I should go check on her. It's my duty as a cop to protect. Maybe I can even persuade her to come with us. Sometimes the voice of reason for a female is better coming from another female."

"Okay, I can see that. I'll go on then. Should you persuade her, you can get to the elementary school through Kim Gordon's house. I'm sure you already know the other ways to it are blocked."

"The teacher Kim Gordon? Interesting. Even if I can't get Lisa to come with me, I might check out her house for any more evidence. If we make it outta here alive, I wanna have something to show for it to put those scum bags away. How exactly do I get there?"

I opened my map, showing her the streets to take and . she wrote them down on a memo pad she kept with her. Within a few minutes, everything was set.

"If nothing works out well with Lisa, I'll follow you into the sewer system to Lakeside. Sound like a plan?

"Sure. We'll get to the bottom of this."

"Or die trying, right?" We laughed nervously, then sighed. Suddenly, she reached out and embraced me in a hug, and there was an awkward silence before Cybil spoke again "I'm…I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from. It's just after seeing what I've seen so far…I don't know if I'll see you alive again. Hell, I don't know if I'll be alive. I know it's not like a cop to get emotionally involved, but good luck, Harry."

"Alright, Cybil. Good luck to you, too."

At that, we both went our separate ways. I braved the oncoming fog once again, hoping to find my lost daughter.

Part V: The Sewers,

Lakeside Pier, and

Amusement Park

Chapter 1

I now stood before a twenty-by-twenty chain link fence. A large aluminum sign read "Northern Waterworks." The door was held closed by a simple large metal padlock. Fog continued its usually drifting through the town. Snow fell in the air, tossing my brown hair askew. Beyond this sewer, on the other side, I would find my daughter. If not, I would at least find more answers.

Pushing against the fence door, I found the padlock holding sturdy and true. I had to break it. Picking up my fireax, I struck the lock hard with the blade. Metal sparks flew, and the lock rattled in its place. I struck it over and over again, but it didn't' seem to do much good. Finally, not caring at the danger of ricochet, I dropped the fireax and stepped back, took aim with my shotgun, and shot directly at the padlock.

With a loud BANG, the padlock blew off along with pieces of the doorway. The door swung open inward quite easily on its hinges. I was in. Amazingly, I didn't manage to bounce any of the pellets off of the fence and back into myself. I stepped in. A large water pump stood to my left, and a manhole stood locked firmly into the ground.

I found a crowbar nearby, and jammed it into the groove on the side of the manhole. Putting all my weight into the crowbar, I pushed down hard, and managed to lift the manhole an inch or so. I tried again, only getting it a little bit more. Sweat began to pop out on my forehead, despite the cold snowy weather. Finally, I gave it one last long and hard pull, and the manhole cover came up out of the ground. Balancing it on the crowbar, I moved it over to the pavement, and dropped it. The lid hit the pavement with a plastic dull thud. Now I had revealed a set of stairs leading downward.

_The sewer is now open for business._ I thought randomly, and began to laugh neurotically.

I clamored over to the ladder rungs, and began my descent down. The faint, hazy light from the fog overhead began to diminish, and before long it was pitch black. Not wanting to waste my battery just climbing down the ladder, I kept my flashlight off, and continued moving downward into total darkness. And total silence.

It was strange, only feeling the cool metal rungs in my hands, and hearing the sound of my leather work shoes clanging in the absolute dark. It's funny how you don't notice little details such as this in normal circumstances. Somehow, those small sounds seemed terrifying. Paranoia swept over me, and I felt very claustrophobic. In this moment, I felt so irrevocably _vulnerable_, not having an inch of light to see. We depended so much on our sight, we feel utterly helpless without it. The feeling intensified as I went lower and lower, seeming to never reach the end.

Then, the bad thoughts started to come in.

That other voice.

The id.

"_You'll never make it, Harry! Your daughter won't be there!" _

_ "You'll waste all this effort to find her, and she'll be dead."_

_ "Just give up and die, Harry!"_

_ "You're going to get killed by one of those things! If you thought the ones in the streets were bad, you should see what's down here!"_

One after another, the thoughts assaulted my mind, trying to drag me down mentally into my own black abyss. I fought them, trying to shut that voice up, and assure myself that my actions were not in vain. I reminded myself that I had a purpose, and that was to protect Cheryl. And nothing was going to get in my way. Eventually, that dark voice finally backed off, leaving me with my normal thoughts once again.

After what felt like an eternity, I felt my right foot touch solid ground. Steadying myself with the ladder, I put my other foot down on the surface, and fished out my flashlight. Remembering my hard tumble from the pteradctyl monster attack, I crossed my fingers that it would still work. I clicked it on, but no response. After a few good knocks with my palm, the light kicked on resiliently to unveil the dark sewers before me. I was at the end of a long tunnel. The walls and floor were all metal and concrete. There were pipes going in and out of walls at various intervals. Lightbulbs with no cover hung overhead, their metal lamps covered in rust. Following the path, I went down the corridor, and around the bend into another long tunnel. Save for the tense _drip drip _of some source, the silence was almost deafening…

The atmosphere was more than eerie, as I suspected. The unnerving sound of water dripping felt like it might drive me mad. Tension squeezed the air in a tight grip, and for a few moments, I thought I might suffocate. Feelings of claustrophobia came in steady waves, and the anticipation of something going horribly wrong began to weigh me down.

After a couple more turns, I could begin to hear the sound of steadily flowing water. I begin to unwind a bit, and soon the narrow tunnel opened out into a larger area. The surface of the larger corridor was a grated floor, similar to that of a metal catwalk. Water flowed underneath, moving to the right towards a circular opening with large vertical bars, to which seemed to have no end beyond. To my left, the tunnel continued down, and how far it stretched I could not tell. With no other choice, I walked to the left.

There was really nothing in particular to see in this area, and I was thankful for that. Keeping things boring for a little while wouldn't bother me one bit. The smell of garbage and urine was very strong here, stinging my nostrils. I clipped my nose with a thumb and forefinger, attempting to keep the pungent smell out. It didn't do very much to help. Then again, what else could you expect in a sewer?

My flashlight led my feet along the path, and so far that was straight ahead. Some areas led off to the right, and then back to the left. Why they couldn't just make the catwalk a straight shot through the middle, I wasn't completely sure. That would be too simple then, wouldn't it? Then again, I wasn't a plumber or water expert, either. I guess they had their reasons.

Finally, I came to what seemed to be the end. The catwalk forked to the left and right. Both sides had fenced doors leading ahead. I tried the door on the left, but it was locked. Cursing, I went back around and tried the door on the right. Thankfully, it was unlocked. I went through, and it took me forward and around a bend to the right. This went straight and into a dead end.

At the end of the tunnel, I found a small service box with some controls, levers, and…a key? I picked it off of the hook, and felt that it must go to the other fenced door. I turned, feeling relief that I was making my way through with such ease.

Just when my spirits started to lift, it happened. There was a sudden sound of movement treading water and a heavy click resounded to my right. I looked over just in time to see a black, clawed hand reach onto the catwalk from the sewer water underneath. Stepping back, I watched as the arm pulled a monstrous thing onto the catwalk. I didn't get a good look, because I was already turning o run. I wasn't entirely interested in seeing this thing. I'd seen enough, and I was more than sure this was about to chase me.

Water sloshed from all around me, and it seemed that more of these things were lifting themselves out of the water and on to the catwalk. In mere moments, I would be surrounded.

Without any more unnecessary looking, I turned and fired off a round that sounded like it hit one of the monsters. The path cleared, I ran back around the bend, and double-backed to the locked fenced door. The black clawed monsters motivated me into moving with their skittering and clicking sounds as they tracked me. And then…they started shrieking.

It was the most horrible sound I had ever heard. It was nails on a chalkboard, a cat being strangled, a high-pitched ring, and a desperate squeal from a pig all blended into an angry cry of rage. It was so bad I didn't even notice the strange noises emanating from my phone whenever they got close. My skin crawled off me, and didn't seem to want back on anytime soon.

My hands shaking, I fumbled the key out and managed to get it into the padlocked fence door with much strain and effort. Then, I heard the other fence door being rammed, and the loud clang of metal hitting concrete. Just as I popped the padlock, I could sense those clawed monstrosities clamoring towards me from behind. I lifted the gate latch and began to push through the gate, when I suddenly felt a sting of pain on my arm. To my right, one of those monsters had climbed onto the fence over the water in attempt to get to me quicker. Grunting in pain, I lifted my gun to get off a quick shot, but the creature clawed the gun out of my grip in one quick swipe.

Forgetting about the gun now, I pushed through the gate, slammed it close, and threw the latch back down. The remaining horde of clawed monsters slammed into the gate, tearing at the links with their claws. Sparks ignited in the dark, giving faint glimpses of their mutant bodily features.

Thankfully, they didn't know how to open gates. Though this gate had a latch, and all it took was for one to move it upwards while another pushed to get it open.

As I watched them, I saw with horror that they had no mouths. Their faces were extremely dark, and all I could see were weird mandible-like protrusions curving around the sides of their face. They walked on two legs, but moved with the grace of a lizard. Their arms were long and skinny yet had much shorter legs, both tipped with razor claws. Their toes clicked noisily on the metal grating as they moved about. Their heads were white and thin which protruded much further back than a human's head. The rest of their body was black with a shiny wet look to them. Being a sci-fi horror fan, I couldn't help but equate the shiny, _wet_ look of them to the movie Alien.

I wasn't sure if they could tear through this gate, but I didn't want to stick around long enough to find out. I turned and ran forward, to see the most beautiful sight that I could behold at this moment.

A ladder leading back up.

In moments, I was at the top rung of the ladder, but faced the problematic sewer lid above me. With no weapon to help me either, I felt a claustrophobic panic set in. Those monsters would no doubt soon be below me, and surely they could climb. Almost on the verge of a total meltdown, I hooked one arm onto the top rung, and frantically shoved at the lid with all of my might. My blood pumped in my ears, and I felt the surge of adrenaline fill my body once more.

The lid didn't move at first, and I might as well have been buried alive in a coffin six feet underground.

_Cheryl's waiting for you, Harry._

_You have to make it. For her._

A newfound power accompanied my adrenaline, and I shoved with every last bit of strength left in my body. Gradually, the lid began to tremble, and with the sound of a plug being yanked out of a bathtub drain, the manhole lid popped off. I clawed my way out of the sewer, and finally onto the snow-riddled ground of the surface. Outside, I indulgently sucked in lungfuls of air that felt more fresh and clean that it had ever been before, rejuvenating me instantly.

Beside the ladder, I could hear the indignant screaming and clamoring of the foul sewer creatures. I had made it, and they had not. Looking over at the manhole, I decided it best to cover it back up. I wouldn't want those creatures climbing up after me. Then again, I didn't want Cybil to be stuck. So I compromised, setting the manhole cover so that it didn't completely set in the grooves, but enough so that it appeared closed. Those monsters wouldn't know the difference, but Cybil could much more easily lift the lid should she decide to come this way.

As I stepped away, the cut on my arm from that sewer monster stung, and I noticed the area of my sleeve was soaked lightly in blood. Simultaneously, the ache in my right hand, which I punched through the schoolyard window earlier, began to throb as well. All the strain from lifting that lid must have aggravated everything. My earliest pain from my shoulder and knee began to ache dully again. Even through the bandages wound around my palms, I could feel the steady pulse of pain in my hand.

Unlike the thick-misty daylight from earlier, I was greeted by a dead nightfall. I had to switch my flashlight back on Looking around; it appeared I was in a back area, away from the main road. A wooded gate was on all sides of me, and I saw a dumpster nearby.. I hadn't heard any sirens, so why was it dark?

It looked like I was in the back alley of a restaurant of some sort. If only I had a map…

The feeling of disorientation made me uneasy, but at least there weren't any oddities coming to get me in my vulnerable state. I walked through the snow, coming around the side of a building, and onto a main street. Ambling around, I found a sign that said Craig St., and further to my right the street intersected with Bachman Rd. I didn't have to walk far on Bachman to find it blocked.

_This must be the other side of that same chasm that blocked us from the Old Silent Hill area._

That put me on the north side of the resort area. I started to walk the other direction on Bachman, now seeing the other side of the building I was on. Then, through the fog, I heard a voice speaking.

"You said that I didn't have to do this anymore, now leave me alone!" The voice spoke angrily, a man's voice. Then it paused, as if listening. I crept closer, moving to the side of the road out of sight. "Yes, I understand. But I've done all that I needed to! I've made more than enough from this, and I told you that I'm through. You can deal them out yourself! I am no longer a part in this! I took care of Alessa, and that was the last thing you said I had to do. Now leave me be!"

As I moved closer, I could faintly make out a gray business suit. Then, the hazy figure of Michael Kaufmann became visible out in the snow, a briefcase and a gun in his hands.

"I'll show her," he growled aloud. He looked over to his left, and walked in that direction. I followed suit, trying to stay just far enough behind from his visbility. We both soon came into a parking lot, and a restaurant with the name "Annie's Bar" across the front in bright neon lights. Kaufmann trudged angrily through the snow and walked to the front door. Looking around for any spectators, he must have decided it was safe, and yanked on the door handle. Soon, he was inside.

_What was he up to? _I thought._ I wonder if he was talking about the White Claudia…?_

Making my footsteps light, I came up to the door myself. It seemed that he and someone were fighting, and something about taking care of Alessa. Another piece of the puzzle, and still I had only scratched the surface. The mysterious events of this town seemed to drag on and on. Somehow, though, I felt close.

Before I even grabbed the handle, I heard a yell of surprise and terror. There was a loud crashing noise followed by a cluttered _thump_. I flung open the door and stepped inside.

I stepped in to find Michael Kaufmann in grave danger…

Chapter 2

"Har….help…." Kaufmann choked out, his eyes bulging out in terror and strain. Sitting atop Kaufmann was a creature similar to those creatures below in the sewer, but different. They had longer legs with brown and red skin but I soon realized it looked like muscle tissue like it had been skinned. The creature was bearing down on Kaufmann, but Kaufmann was able to hold it back (barely), both of his arms locked on the creatures' wrists. He held his right knee up into the creature's chest, blocking the creature from trying to bite at him with its serrated teeth, as if the creature needed them. The long, curved claws attached to its arms were lethal, more than enough to tear someone apart.

Glancing around, I saw a small black handgun lying on the floor in front of me. I snatched the gun off the ground, trying to take aim, but it was difficult. With the creature right on top of Kaufmann, it would be much too easy to end up shooting Kaufmann myself.

"Push harder, away from you!" I yelled. "It's too close to you for me to shoot!"

"I…can't!" Kaufmann huffed. He almost looked as if he might pass out with the effort. I moved closer to the left and right, but the call was too close to make. Finally, Kaufmann was able to get his foot up, and pushed the creature further away. My shot rang out loud and clear, hitting the creature's upper torso. It fell onto its back, and I relentlessly fired off rounds, making sure it stayed down. After emptying the magazine, I felt sure by the steadily growing pool of blood and the dying spasm of the creature, that it had finally given up the ghost.

After the last shot rang out, the room went unusually quiet. The only sound was that of Kaufmann's ragged breathing, and the gusts of wind outside.

"Are you alright?" I broke the silence.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm okay," Kaufmann said, still breathing heavily. "Thank you. That damn thing almost got me." He sat up now, his eyes cast down. I got the impression that he was embarrassed, his pride hurt more than his physical being. I hadn't been around him long, but he seemed kind of arrogant. Perhaps he was embarrassed that those stupid monsters actually go the jump on him.

"I was so careful before. That thing got me when I let my guard down. Probably because I was so tired…"

"And angry?" I added. Kaufmann's gaze snapped up towards me.

"What do you mean, angry?"

"I heard you on the phone. That's why I followed you here. Who were you talking to, doctor? Dahlia?" The words simply came out accusing, but then again he owed me one.

"That's, that's none of your business!" He barked, standing up. Upon standing, he wobbled some, and straightened himself immediately. "Hmmm…well, you did save my life. I'm not the most forthcoming man in the world, but due to that I suppose I owe you an explanation."

"More than that," I added once again. "I want to know everything you know."

"Well, it's not that simple."

"I'm sure I can keep up."

"Harry, I can tell you're a good guy. You're looking for a daughter, you've got morals. I can't say I'm of the same variety, but I respect it. I don't want you getting involved more than you have to."

"I'm already involved. In fact, I'm becoming more and more sure a lot of this has to do with my daughter. So let's hear it."

"Well, it all started seven years ago. Most everyone thinks the White Claudia drug had been around only two years, but it's been going on much longer than that. Dahlia first discovered it in the mountains, and she dabbled in medicine and…well I'm sure you know of the other craft she is familiar with."

"Blackhats and broomsticks?"

"Close enough, yes. Anyway, she began distributing it to her followers. She was in line with the older settlers, practicing that cult religion of theirs. Other than The Order, I haven't heard a definite name of their religion itself. Some people here call them Followers of Mother or Paradise Seekers. It's like a weird, offbeat mix of Christian beliefs with a lot of Wickan and paginistic rituals and practices. "

"What kind?" I was curious if he had the same information as Cybil had told me.

"Pretty much everything you associate with demon worship like sacrifices and casting spells. As you may or may not know, the town inhabitants agreed to let them practice as long as it was far away enough from the town like in wooded areas or anywhere that wouldn't disturb the residents. Anyway, Dahlia found out about the properties of the White Claudia, and began to proliferate it as a way of attaining a higher spiritual experience. They think it brought them closer to Paradise. More realistically, it was essentially an acid trip. In their minds, it was a way of Enlightenment. The hallucinogenic properties were very potent and very addictive.

"Well, I caught wind of it and reminded her that it need only be used for those within her special little group. She visited the hospital frequently to aid those who needed more than just medical needs for their infirmities. I discovered she would sometimes pose as a nurse and get patients to try White Claudia to make them feel better, usually for patients with severe pain. Once she got them hooked, she would start charging them for it. It was a way to fund her Other Church. When I called her out on it, she said that instead of turning her into the police, I could go in on it. I inquired how much she made, and after she told me, I caved being the weak man that I am when it comes to money.

I was able to turn the plant into a powder, making it easier to conceal and use. The money began rolling in, and I was happy to turn a blind eye to Dahlia's dealings and even referred her to people in town who would be interested. Over time, I even helped distribute. Most other people we'd get to sell it for us ended up using it, and the money got even better.

"With so much extra money, we were able to hush up anyone who dared to talk about what was going on. Not many people in Silent Hill make a lot of money, so bribing them was quite simple. When that didn't work naming Dahlia Gillespie would many times be enough to scare them into staying quiet. People here know what the Order is capable of. The police were chasing their tails, the ones who were actually to solve it that is. Dahlia even used her magic to aid us. And that's pretty much the story of White Claudia."

"So why were you angry with her on the phone, earlier? What were you talking about?"

"Well…after working with Dahlia, I found out some of the dark things she was doing, and some of her crazy beliefs. I mean, you only hear whispers of what goes on in the Order, but the only way you truly know is by being a member of the Order yourself. They don't talk about their practices to people outside of the Order, but you get little tidbits here and there. And after being around Dahlia so much, I found that she really is absolutely crazy.

She talked often about making the way to Paradise, and opening a New World to us. But the way she described it…sounded more like a nightmare to me. I began more and more uncomfortable with working with her, the more I learned of her cultist activities. I felt as if I made a deal with the Devil. Finally, I told her I was going to quit. I was making a monumental amount, but it wasn't worth it. My conscious wouldn't let me do it anymore.

"She said that she understood, but still wanted me to do one more favor for her. It was the hardest favor I had to do, but it paid well. It was related to a ritual she performed… anyway, that's enough talk. You know enough about White Claudia. Now if you excuse me, I need to get something. Could you hand me my gun?" I hesitated for a moment.

"You need to turn yourself in," I said flatly.

"…I know. And I will…but for now I need to get out of here. It's not exactly safe out there, you know. Have you found a way out?"

"No, but I think I know where my daughter went. Cybil said she saw her heading towards Lakeside Amusement Park."

"Well, here's a map to help you get there quicker." Kaufmann took out a neatly folded map, and he gestured for his gun. It was a trade apparently. Knowing I had no choice, we traded his gun for the map in mutual silence. "Now, we can't stay here all day flapping our gums. I have some things to wrap up around here."

Without another word, Kaufmann turned his back to me and strode quickly out the door. Why was he always in such a rush? Perhaps he wanted to cover up more evidence? I couldn't be sure, but at least I knew where Cheryl was going and had a means to get to her. It was fairly simple to get there. I only had to follow Bachman Rd. south and turn west on Sandford St. From there, I would pass some large garage storage areas, and the pier and Lighthouse would be on my left.

Before I left, I decided it wouldn't hurt to check everything out in the bar. The place mostly consisted of pool tables and empty bar stools. Near the entrance was a large bar top with napkin holders, coasters, and other bar paraphernalia. Walking up and down the aisles of pool tables, I scrutinized the area for any clues. Perhaps Cheryl left a sketchbook page here. But alas, she did not.

Instead, I heard the dull tink of metal against my shoe as I walked near the lifeless form of the clawed monster. Bending down, I saw the source of the metallic sound. There was a short, gold key accompanied by a small slip of paper, half-hidden under the pool table.

"This must have fallen out of Kaufmann's pocket when he was attacked," I wondered aloud. The gold key had a "3" engraved on it, but had no other indications of what it was used for. The slip of paper was a receipt, apparently from the Young motel. Written across the receipt in a red marker was the numbers "0883." Kaufmann had apparently gone to this motel, but for what purpose? Maybe there was some answer to what was going on.

Either way, I knew I had to reach the Amusement Park before things started to get ugly out there. Looking at the map, the motel was just south of Annie's Bar. It would only take me a few minutes' time to get there. I weighed my options for a moment. I could either go straight to the Amusement Park, or I could check out the motel first. Deciding that there could be something important to the bigger picture I thought I might as well check The few minutes it would take to check out his motel room shouldn't make _that _much of a difference in my progress. And the journalist in me just couldn't let go of some good intel.

So, a five-minute walk later, I passed by a red neon sign with Young Motel and an overhang separating the motel's inner area from the street. I passed by a couple of doors leading to an office area and a small storage unit. Further back, there was a run of motel rooms, leading from 5 to 1, going left to right. In the middle, I found the door for room number 3.

My key kit just right and I went right inside. The room was plain, with no real signs that anybody had been there. I looked around for less than a minute, and decided there wasn't anything here of interest at all. I was about to leave, when I passed by a dresser near the bathroom. Something about it wasn't quite right. I stepped back, getting a wider view, and realized it wasn't lined up with the wall quite right. That was when I noticed that the hole in the wall behind it.

It wasn't a large, gaping hole leading anywhere. It was like someone punched a small hole in the wall, leaving a cubby space to put something in. I pulled the dressed back enough for me to reach in, and found a key hidden away in the small hole. Yamaha was written on the key, and nothing more. I pondered for a second, trying to figure out why someone would hide a key to what was most likely a Yamaha bike. Then, I pieced together two things. There was a number written on that receipt for this motel in red marker, and the storage unit had a keypad to get in. It took me less than a minute to make it to the storage unit.

I punched in the code, releasing the lock. Before long, I was inside a garage-like unit, with oil cans, tools, and the coupe te grae, a Yamaha motorcycle. It hadn't been used in quite some time due to the thick layer of dust covering it. Strangely enough, the key didn't start the motor. I puzzled over it, searching the bike for any other keyholes. Near the gas can, I noticed that there wasn't any dust on it, as if someone had recently used it. And then…a padlock was attached to the gas can. I unlocked it, and opened it up, finding a large plastic bag.

Inside, I found a Ziploc bag full of a white, powdery substance, and a vial wrapped in bubble wrap. I slowly lifted the items out, looking them over with precision. Was this white powder the White Claudia? Very likely. The vial of red substance looked almost identical to the vial I had collected from the hospital.

"Hold it right there," a voice commanded nearby, scaring me half to death. I knew right away it was Kaufmann's. In my peripheral vision, I could see the muzzle of his handgun pointed straight at my head.

"Hand me the vial and the bag," he said, not shouting but in a strict tone. "You should have been smart enough to keep well enough alone." I lifted both items in each hand, and he walked behind me, taking each separately and moving them by the door. With the gun still trained on me, he knelt down, using one hand to open the briefcase.

"You shouldn't meddle in other people's business," he almost spat at me. "I already told you how it was going to be with the White Claudia. What were you going to do, turn it into the police?"

"I was only curious. I was hoping to find more information about what's going on. It may even help me find Cheryl."

"Well, curiosity killed the cat, as they say. Lucky that you're not a cat."

As he talked, he placed the vial and the bag in his briefcase. Anger framed his face, and for a few moments, I thought he was going to shoot me right on the spot.

"Mason, you got a lot of nerve. I told you why I stopped doing what I did, because Dahlia turned out to be a nutbag! But I still care about money. Once I get out of here, I can use this to make money elsewhere. Get out of this God-forsaken hick town! I never liked it much anyway. This place is way to small for what I've got going. Say, by the way, what did you say your daughter looked like?"

"She's wearing a blue and white checkered dress and she has short black hair."

"I think I saw a girl like that, going towards the harbor. There's a lighthouse southwest of here, not very far from the Lakeside Amusement Park."

"Really? Why would she go there? Maybe got lost on the way to the park…I need to get there."

"And you will, Mr. Mason. Now had you not saved my life earlier and found this I would have shot you right on the spot. But since you spared my life, I'll spare yours. But don't go messing around in other people's business, especially mine. You'll get yourself killed next time. You've got your map and you've got your information, so get outta here!"

He motioned towards the door with his gun. I got up slowly, so as not to alarm him. His muzzle followed me all the way out of the motel area, and he ushered me on. I didn't need much more convincing.

I ran out into the dark streets, the diligent snowfall still falling. The streets seemed safe enough, with no sign of any danger. Everything seemed almost sanguine somehow. As creepy as this town was, the steady snowfall provided a peaceful feeling when you blocked out all the crazy things that had happened. That in of itself somehow made me uncomfortable. Everything seemed to feel too right to be…right.

I came upon the Sanford Street bridge, and knew that I was getting close to the pier. I thought back to all the craziness I had seen and been through. Black chasms, gigantic fireballs, a corpse brought back from the dead, a nightmare world, unnatural creatures, an abandoned town, an evil fog, drug trafficking, and a lunatic witch woman. What connections did all these have? There had to be more.

And then, as I began to feel that everything might be alright for a little while, the ominous sirens began once again.

And this time, it didn't just get dark.

Chapter 3

I gasped, seeing the town itself now turn into a nightmare world. The sky went pitch black, and the snow dissipated in seconds, replaced by a steady rain. An invisible wave moved over the streets, transforming it into a crude chain link ground. I noticed that parts of the chain link formed the mark of Samael, a testament to the marks' involvement in this town's transformation. There was no end, looking through the fence in the ground. It was an Abyss, nothing more and nothing less. Pipes sprouted out all across the expanse, connected to the fence, as if used for some unseen purpose. Various steel structures protruded from the ground, some looking like cel phone towers and others like windmills.

Sirens continued to wail, and the sound was louder than ever before. The sounds of cracking and peeling whipped through the air. I looked over to see buildings beginning to chip away and smolder, like a fast time-lapse of a building deteriorating over years. Spots of mold and charred pieces also appeared on the buildings, and was accompanied by the smell of smoke and charred asphalt. It was like the aftermath of a great fire, happening in seconds.

Finally, it stopped. The only sound left was my own labored breathing. Silent Hill was not going back and forth between a normal world and a nightmare world. Now, it seemed that the town itself _was_ the nightmare. Still, I didn't understand what was going on, but the feeling that it was getting worse was unmistakable. I had to hurry.

Ducking through streets and signs, I saw random piles of burning wood with an impaled body in the middle. There were more of those monstrous dogs much like the one at the Levin St. house. These were bigger though, and the head consisted of a squirming mass of worms.

_Just when you thought it couldn't get more creative…_

Looking at them made me sick. Fortunately, I was moving too quickly and stealthily for them to notice me. The nightmarish world's ground was much more difficult to maneuver. There were random breaks in the catwalk-like ground, and I almost fell in a couple of times. I had to back track and find different routes occasionally. Yet, I moved so quickly, it didn't seem to matter. Silent Hill was making things more difficult for me, but it would not stop me.

Before I knew it, the sound of water gently lapping greeted my ears. In seconds, I came upon a large wooden sign for the Lake View Pier. A wooden boardwalk sloped down, leading around a boathouse.

Dark, unseen waters continued to lap at the pier. Upon descending the boardwalk, I saw a light moving about inside the boathouse. Cheryl, perhaps? I crept down the remainder of the boardwalk, and peered in the porthole, hoping to get a view of the person inside. It turned up worthless, as the view was blocked by another interior door. Without further abide, I invited myself in.

Inside, I found a wandering Cybil Bennett, who turned and whipped her gun around at my entrance.

"Cybil! It's me!" I shouted, holding my hands up.

"Oh, thank God you're alright," she said, lowering her gun.

"I'm glad that youmade it! Did you see those things in the sewer?"

"No…but I heard some strange noises while I was down there. I just followed the path, and it took me to the other exit. You must have had more trouble."

"Yes, a _little_. I'm glad you made it. I take it you weren't able to convince Lisa to come."

"Well, that's the funny thing. I went down to the hospital, and looked all over the first floor. But there was no one there. Not a single sign. Sure was creepy. I felt like someone was watching me the whole time I was there. Once I was sure that Lisa wasn't there, I high-tailed it.

"With all that's happened here, I'm not completely surprised. At first, I thought I was losing my mind. But now I know I'm not. Maybe you've seen it, too. This whole town... it's being evaded by this Otherworld. It's like a world of someone's nightmarish delusions come to life. Little by little, it's spreading to different areas of Silent Hill. Maybe that's what Dahlia meant by 'Trying to swallow up everything in darkness.' This is the darkness she was talking about, an alternate nightmarish world. "

"I'm not sure I quite get it. You mean as in a parallel universe?"

"Something like that. It's still the same town, but a darker weirder version. Did you see the chain link ground on the way here?"

"No…? I did hear the sirens, though. Those are only supposed to be for natural disasters."

"Well, in a sense it was. You see, it was normal until just now. The sirens turned everything dark and evil. Every time they sound, something happens. Back in the alley when I first got here, they sounded and everything went dark. So I guess the 'darkness' is literal, too."

"Why and how could that happen? I know that the Order practices witchcraft, so maybe that stuff is real after all. Unless this is just a bad dream we're all in somehow. Do you think Dahlia's behind it?"

"I just know she is. Why else would she know what's happening. Someone's pulling the strings, and if it isn't her, then she knows who is. Yet she acted like she is against this whole thing. Oh, and she gave me this." I pulled out the strange, pyramid-shaped Flauros. "She said it would help me fight the darkness. Hasn't done anything so far…I don't understand it all myself. It's got to do something..."

"And this Alessa girl is involved, too. She looks strangely like Cheryl, and I don't understand why but somehow its relevant. I ran into Kaufmann, and he said something about a ritual Dahlia performed. I think Alessa was part of that ritual somehow. Alessa has been at every location that's turned into this Nightmare world. She looks almost just like Cheryl, so I wonder if Dahlia somehow tricked her. Maybe even trying to make Cheryl her new daughter, pretending that she's Alessa. You did say she tried to bring her back."

"That's just what people said, so it may not be true. But a grieving mother who's crazy to begin with who missed her daughter enough, I could almost buy that."

"And trust me, this theory sounds weird but, we've already seen plenty of supernatural things already. What if Alessa's spirit is angry that Dahlia is trying to replace her with someone else? So she's…doing all these things to the town."

"I've heard of ghosts plenty of times. They bother people or throw things around, they can't change an entire town, that's crazy Harry."

"Really? What's crazy anymore here. Anyway, Kaufmann's definitely involved with Dahlia."

"Why would you say that?"

"I saw him at Annie's Bar, and he was attacked by a monster. I saved him, and in return he told me all that he knew. He and Dahlia had been working together, selling this White Claudia drug to people in town. Making lots of money, and Dahlia used that money to help build her Church. He was getting uncomfortable with the things Dahlia was doing. Said there was a final favor he did for Dahlia, and after that he didn't deal with her anymore. It must have been something huge to spook him. And get this, he said it was taking care of Alessa."

"Taking care of Alessa…that sounds like she got Kaufmann to kill her daughter! Maybe she needed his help to make it look like an accident…oh my God. This town has more secrets than I ever imagined…"

"All this started when Cheryl and I got here. We've just got to find out the connection. She's scared, Cybil. I—I keep hearing her, seeing her all over town!" I suddenly felt myself overwhelmed by everytihing, and was breaking into hysterics. I was doomed to this place, cursed as some kind of purgatory.

"Harry… this whole thing's been a major blow to you. You need to rest, I think."

"Cybil, I-"

A door creaked, and we both turned to see the inner cabin door open. The person who came in was none other than Dahlia herself.

"Dahlia!" Cybil immediately drew her gun, but Dahlia didn't respond.

"The demon is awakening! Spreading those terrible wings! Hungry for sacrifice, the demon will swallow up the land in its hunger! I knew this day would come. And what's more, the task is almost finished. There's only two left, to seal this town to the abyss, the mark of Samael. When it is completed, all is lost. Even in daytime, darkness will cover the sun. You've seen it happening already. Soon the dead will walk, and martyrs will burn in the fires of hell! Everyone will DIE!"

"Quite babbling, and tell me what am I supposed to do! I've got to save Cheryl."

"It is simple. Stop the demon, and you will save her! The demon is taking that other child's form! Stop it before your daughter becomes a sacrifice. Before it is too late!"

"Child's form? Your daughter, SHE's the demon?!" I inquired.

"See, stranger you've already figured it out on your own! You are chosen to defeat her! Only an interloper can undo what has been done!"

"How are we supposed to trust you! The way we see it, you're behind all of this!" Cybil interjected. "And we know all about your White Claudia drug trafficking. And about your deal with Kaufmann. You paid him to kill Alessa, didn't you?" Dahlia scowled at Cybil, and turned her gaze back to me as if completely ignoring her.

"You know nothing, pig! There are others in my Order, followers. They have dabbled into things which they cannot control. I tried to warn them, but they wouldn't listen. Without my guidance, they went on their own, and only succeeded in freeing evil forces! They've opened a gate to a dark world! I am here to help stop all of this! And what's worse, that's my daughter!" She seemed now on the verge of tears. "To mock me, that demon they unleashed is taking the form of my daughter. But only the power of an outsider can stop it. My visions have shown me! The fate relies on you, Harry Mason."

"Me? I don't know anything about any of this! How can I possibly stop it! You're the ones who use magic."

"It is simple, what you must do. Go to the lighthouse on the lake, and to the center of the amusement park. Those are the last two places they need to create the mark to complete its task. If you catch her, use the Flauros."

"How am I supposed to use it?"

"You will know when the time comes! Now make haste, you are the only hope and time is short!"

Cybil broke in. "Dahlia, you're coming with me. You're under arrest for drug trafficking, and we'll find out more about your 'deal' with Kaufmann." Cybil walked towards the cabin door, drawing her gun. I tensed up, expecting Dahlia to make a move.

"Very well, then." Dahlia lowered her voice and turned to Cybil. I creased my brow, wondering what she was up to. She put her hands out to be cuffed, and turned her back to Cybil, facing towards me. Cybil read Dahila her rights as she put handcuffs on her wrists.

"Once again, thank you Cybil. And be careful." I shot a quick glance at Dahlia, changing my phrase to a subtle, "Be careful, having her with you."

"I'll be fine, Harry. I'm going to take her to the amusement park, just in case we can catch Alessa there. I wouldn't believe earlier she was actually here, had I not seen her walk across the lake. We'll wait for you."

"Do not worry! I will take good care of Cybil. You go on to the lighthouse, Harry! Hurry, there isn't much time!"

Dahlia turned, and both she and Cybil exited the cabin door. Suddenly, I began to feel that leaving her with Dahlia might not be the best choice. What other option did I have?

Standing there, holding the Flauros, I felt suddenly lost. What am I supposed to do with this? Hold it up in the air, and whisper "abra kadabra?" Surely Dahlia would tell me more if I needed to know, right? Of this, I was not sure. Something about what Dahila told us about how some random people in her cult being responsible for this…it just didn't seem to add up. She was lying about something, but I had no time to wonder any longer. Time was of the essence.

The next five minutes went by in a blur. I was out of the cabin door, and onto the pier. It was difficult, getting to the lighthouse. Due to the changed world, it was not a straight shot through the pier as it should be. The change had broken areas much like the street of chainlink fence. I had to zig-zag my way through.

All the while, I found more of the mutated dogs creeping about and even spotted a couple of those flying pterodactyl creatures. I was able to stay unnoticed, and finally I had made it through. I looked up at an ancient-looking lighthouse, which seemed to loom over me in the pitch black sky.

The structure was more than foreboding, it was a dark guardian, looking out into the expanse of the harbor and town. There were a set of wooden stairs leading to the lighthouse entrance. Very quickly, the aching in my body came back. The fog had been zapping it out of me from the beginning, and it was taking its toll. Yet, I had one final motivation.

Barely able to make it out, I could vaguely see a shadowy figure atop the lighthouse. I wasn't even sure of what I was seeing, since my flashlight couldn't reach that high. The figure itself was somehow luminescent, and I had no doubts then it was Alessa. The sight of the figure, probably trying to mark the lighthouse, sent me into full motion. I dashed up the steps, taking two at a time, and burst through the entrance.

Now, there was a spiraling set of steep metal stairs. They went up, up, and into the top of the lighthouse. My adrenaline carried me (thankfully) to the top. Wind whistled loudly through the air outside, and the clang of the metal steps pinged and clanked sharply through the air. After what felt like an hour (but in actuality was a minute or two) I reached the top.

Just as I reached the top, I could feel a strange energy settling, like an invisible force that enveloped the space all around me. I stopped at the sight of Alessa, looking up to the sky with her arms outstretched. It was like she was in a trance, performing some kind of dark rite.

"Alessa!" I yelled. "Stop this!" I was out of breath, and could barely muster the words. She turned around in a dramatic slow turn, her form entrancing me. I couldn't take my eyes off of her even if I wanted to. A strange, creepy smile played across her face that immediately made me uncomfortable. It was the face of a child with mischief in mind. And this mischief took on a whole new meaning.

"You're too late now. Soon, it will be finished." I had to say something, anything that might convince her. My Flauros wasn't doing anything, and I had no idea how else I could stop a ghost.

"No, you can't! Your mother…she'll be so disappointed Do you want to make her sad!" At this, Alessa let out a maniacal laugh.

"Disappointed? She's the one that made me what I am! You must be so gullible to believe her lies! By now, she's probably already taken care of your friend! Too bad….she won't be able to witness the beginning of the end!"

A horrible feeling wrenched my gut.

Without another word, she faded into nothing. The ground beneath me trembled, and a hot glow of energy flowed through the ground. A line of red, amber light formed, and the line moved, tracing out a triangle shape, and then two outer rings with some strange markings in between. Before it was halfway done, I already knew what it would be. All the lines came together, forming the mark of Samael. Alessa was right, I was too late to stop here. But, the amusement park wasn't far away, so there was still a chance.

I thought over everything she said as I rushed back down the lighthouse steps to the amusement park.

_She made me what I am! The beginning of the end… Believed her lies…by now she's already taken care of your friend._

I knew as I made my way towards Lakeside that, without a shadow of a doubt Cybil was already in trouble.

Chapter 4

The lights were blinding. As dark as it was in the rest of the town, it only made the amusement park that much brighter. And somehow creepier. It seemed that something was very "off" about this place. Carnival and festival atmosphere is supposed to be one of fun and enjoyment. This however, had a darker duality do it.

Various popcorn and cotton candy stands littered the park grounds, along with your traditional win-a-prize challenges (Guess Your Weight, knock over milk bottles with a baseball). It was old-fashioned, but had been restored with more modern touches. An old-fashioned ferris wheel donned with electrical lighting dominated one section of the park. Overflowing trash cans sat against the stands, the spilled bags of popcorn and cotton candy old and smashed.

There was some carnival-esque music playing, but it was lower-pitched and just barely out of tune that you didn't notice at first. This had a strange, chilling effect. Other than this, the only other sound you could hear was the hum of machinery in various areas: the whirring of cotton candy makers, the creak and whoosh of the ferris wheel. It was all very ominous, the bright lights and joyous shell of an amusement park with the sounds of laughter and joy completely sucked out of it. The ground made of crude chain link continued into the park, making some areas inaccessible as it dropped off into the abyss. There were no ledges to block you from falling, so I had to be careful where I stepped once again. The thought of getting this far and dying from falling off a ledge was maddening.

The fortunate fact was that I didn't need my flashlight anymore, so I could see my surroundings better than I was accustomed to. It was a nice break from only seeing up to five or six feet in front of you.

From what I could see, there weren't any mutant dogs, flying Pteradactyls, or clawed sewer creatures. It was just me and Park. And if I was lucky, Cheryl and Cybil with Dahlia still under arrest. Keeping my eyes peeled for any sign of movement, I went up to one of the stands that had a game where you shot hoops for a prize.

_Get three in a row and win a rabbit! _I read aloud in my head at the sign. But wait…what was that on its mouth? A stack of rabbits sat on the back shelf in the stand, dressed in red overalls. Apparently, these animals were called Robbie the Rabbit, who wore a wide Chesshire cat grin that unsettled me to the core. There was blood on its chin and all around its mouth and it looked….fresh?

"Is that real?" I cocked my brow, and tried to look at it from different angles. There was no way to tell for sure, but if the blood was farce, it was _very _convincing. The dolls seemed to stare back at me with their glossy, painted eyes. I couldn't take their stares anymore, and so walked over to the ferris wheel.

Like the other areas, it was completely deserted. The buckets creaked and groaned in protest at not being serviced When one of the buckets came rounding near the bottom, I caught a glimpse of a person. Whoever it was, they didn't acknowledge me. So I ran forward, trying to catch another glimpse. I waited, and the seat finally came wheeling back around. It took me a few seconds, but I snatched a good look at the person inside. I wished I hadn't very soon after.

It was a woman slumped in her seat, her head leaning and tilted upward against the back of the bucketed gondola. A nasty grin was painted on her face with some white makeup, accompanied by black makeup for the fake lines of a smile. Blood ran down from a large gash in her neck, creeping down onto her neck. That same creepy Robbie Bunny doll was clutched in her arms, as if holding on for dear life. The creepy, bloody-mouthed grin seemed to be a trademark as he wore the same creepy grin. A convulsion of shivers ran through my spine.

Backing away, I tried to tear my gaze from that painted face, but somehow it was hard to from the simple revulsion of it all. Stepping away, I decided to try to visit somewhere else; a place with no dead bodies was very preferable. I wandered for a bit, and ended up at a popcorn stand. Leaning against the stand, I could see the brass meter that measured how hard you could hit the plate with a mallet. I remembered doing those once when I was a kid, getting a "Needs A Little More Muscle" rating. Suddenly, a small shadowy figure appeared beside me.

I jumped back, fearing it was the same creature from the elementary school. But it wasn't. It was simply a shadow, in the shape of a younger child. From watching it for a couple of seconds, it seemed to keep repeating the same action over and over, never acknowledging my presence. From what I understood about ghosts, this was a residual ghost. They did not interact with the living and repeated the same act over and over again, like a video pressing Play for the same scene for an eternity. Some people theorized it was like an imprint on reality, an energy locked into the fabric of time.

The shadow would walk up to the stand, glance around at the environment, and then step up to the stand. It would wait, and then reach up as if to grab a bag of popcorn or some other snack, then it would disappear and reappear to repeat this same action. This scene captivated me, and I watched it happen over and over again. I took a step back and then felt no ground.

"Ah!" I cried, and shifted all of my weight forward. I fell on my face, hitting my chin, but it did beat the alternative. The chain link fence ended a foot behind me, going into the unknown abyss. I hadn't noticed it when I approached the stand. I was just inches away from falling into eternity

I got back up, and surveyed a Merry-Go-Round nearby. The horses bobbed and swayed, moving up and down to unheard music. It was a very eerie scene, seeing a Carousel without the usual cheery music. Some large object was placed in the middle of the Carousel.

My curiosity peaked, I walked up the short metal stairs to the carousel. The horses grinned eerily as they bobbed and weaved past me. As soon as I set foot on the Merry-Go-Round, the lights dimmed some, and I felt reluctant to go any further. After moving closer I could start seeing more of the dark shape in the middle. It was a wheelchair…with Cybil sitting in it.

"Cybil?" I said, not calling her but questioning if it was really her. She sat motionless for a moment, slumped in the wheelchair, then she turned her head to look up at me in an ominous fashion. Slowly she sat up and pushed herself out of the wheelchair. Immediately, I could tell something was wrong with her.

I wanted to move closer to meet her, but my instincts stopped me short. Cybil's face slumped forward awkwardly, as if she was a puppet being held up by the strings of a marionette.

"Cybil? Say something! What's wrong?" I called, feeling a malevolent presence radiating from her. Her eyes…they were all wrong. They were….empty. And to accompany that, they had no life behind them. It was like seeing someone move without thinking or being aware of themselves. It reminded me how cataracters looked. They were distant, like orbs full of wispy smoke. They were much like Cybil's eyes were now.

I opened my mouth to ask her again, when both of her arms came up, aiming her pistol straight at me.

"Cybil, don't'…" But she had already fired. A bullet came whizzing past me, and I reflexively swayed at the gunfire. The bullet ripped across the top of my shoulder. Another wound to add to the lot…

The cold floor greeted me, and my shoulder was on fire with pain. My hand came up automatically to cover my wound, and blood seeped through onto my hand. Cybil turned, seeming more of a reflex than a voluntary movement, and walked closer to me. Her movements were stiff and zombie-like. She definitely looked to be in some kind of trance, I was sure of it. What could I do, though? I didn't want to kill her, but it seemed I may have no choice now.

Before I could get up, she raised her gun and prepared to fire again. I rolled out of the way, the shot ringing loudly against the metal floor of the carousel.

Something tumbled out of my coat pocket after I finished rolling, and I looked to see what it was. That bottle that I had picked up from the Director's safe was there, the red liquid now glowing. The Aglaophotis….

"Why is it…?" I thought, but couldn't finish due to another report from Cybil's gun. It narrowly missed me again, and I needed to do something quickly before I got killed. I had nothing to fend her off with without killing her, and I didn't' have the first clue what to do with the Flauros. I figured that doing something would be better than nothing.

If anything, perhaps splashing the liquid in her eyes might stun her so I could disarm her. Moving lithely, I snatched up the bottle and jumped up, already uncorking it. The liquid sloshed around freely, and the smell of the liquid assaulted my nostrils right away. It was very acrid smelling, containing a strong salty and musky odor. For a split second, I had to cover my nose.

Cybil was still coming towards me, following my movements stiffly with her gun. I ducked and weaved between the horses as cover from any gunfire. Her movements were relatively slow, so I continued this and backtracked around her. I finally got close enough, before Cybil got a chance to turn, I dumped the liquid on her head. A loud hissing noise emitted from her, and the gun dropped from her hands. She dropped to her knees with a hazy steam wafting from her head. She coughed heavily, quickly becoming a hard wretch. I cautiously walked around to see what was happening with her. I soon found the reason for her actions.

In horror, I witnessed her cough up a small, bronze-colored _thing_ , hitting the ground with a gross plopping sound. The parasitic monstrosity was now writhing back and forth and emitted a tiny, squeal. Cybil's unconscious form thudded to the metal floor. The parasite began to slither away, by whipping its flagellic tail back and forth to give its momentum, but I was quicker. With a satisfying squish, I brought my foot down hard on the creature and dug my heel from side to side. The parasite let out a final dying scream as blood flowed freely from underneath my shoe. I walked over to Cybil and began shaking her, trying to rouse her out of sleep.

"Cybil, wake up! C'mon, snap out of it!" I called. After a moment, she began to come to with a soft moan. Her eyes fluttered, and she looked up at me with a dazed expression.

"Harry... what happened?"

"It's okay now, don't worry. Try to relax some. You were…being controlled by some strange parasite. It somehow made you attack me, but it's okay now. I got it off of you."

"Parasite? What the hell happened?"

"I don't know. What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was…with Dahila. I just remember coming here, and then…all the rest is kind of fuzzy after that."  
"Don't worry, it'll come to you. Are you alright?"

"Yes…I feel fine. Just tired, and sore, that's all. Like I just need a good, long rest."

"Yeah, me too. As much as I'd like to rest now, Cheryl is still in danger. I'm going to keep moving until I find her or die trying."

"You really love her."

"Of course. She's not my biological daughter, but all the same, she's might as well be."

"Cheryl's adopted?"

"Yeah, she is. We just found her on the side of the road…she made me and wife very happy, when she was alive..." My words trailed off, and Cybil's face saddened at the thought.

"Oh, Harry. I'm so sorry...first your wife and now this…."

"It's alright. Jodie and Cheryl had time to really bond, and she died happy. I'm starting to believe that Cheryl has a lot to do with this town. I think Cheryl may have been born here. I recognized the area that we found her when I drove down here…and she looks so much like Alessa."

"Almost as if…you don't think they might be…sisters, do you?

"I don't know, but could be." Then, a strange sensation came. Gravity seemed to somehow shift , much like an earthquake, and the light around us started to distort as if we were underwater

"Hey, what's happening now?" I yelled in surprise. In mere moments, the light faded out altogether. Then, a figure stepped into the dim light that was left. Alessa's dark blue dress shone like a beacon as she walked towards Cybil and I. She stopped when she came within about five feet.

"You…I figured you'd show." The girl then turned and started to walk away. "Alessa, wait! I don't what you're doing, or why you're here, but please help me. You know where Cheryl is, don't you?" Alessa stopped in her tracks, and she turned, smiling in her devilish manner.

"Just let Cheryl go**, **_please_**!**"She raised her arm and pointed at me with an intense look of focus. "What are you doing?" The space around Alessa changed, distorting all matter around her. I could then feel a charge in the air, and the distorted light lunged at me. It was far too fast for me to react. The light slammed into my chest and I felt like I was hit by a mac truck. My body crumpled to the floor, and I couldn't move. It was like all of the energy had been knocked out of me.

A strange feeling then came from me, and I felt a weight lessen in my pocket. I looked up, and the strange Flauros object was floating in mid-air. It began to emit a sky blue light, which encircled the object completely. The light then began to move, and surrounded me in seconds.

"What…is this?" I said in wonder. The light shone even brighter, and it seemed to be affecting Alessa. She dropped to the ground, suddenly motionless. I felt my strength come shooting back immediately and was able to stand up.

"Where's Cheryl? Give me back my daughter!" I said, looking down on the now motionless girl and ready to hurt her if necessary. I was done playing games. Cybil only stared on in wonder, not able to believe the sight she was witnessing.

"We meet at last, Alessa. Troublesome, as usual. Some things never change, you know," a voice came in, and we turned to see Dahila as she spoke to Alessa in a quite spiteful tone.

"Dahlia! Where's Cheryl? Where is she!? Did you find her?" She didn't even bat an eye at me.

"Alessa, this is the end of your little game."

"Mama?" Alessa cried helplessly.

"You've been a ghastly little pest, haven't you, Alessa? I was careless, thinking you couldn't escape from our spell. But Mommy didn't know how much you'd grown. That's why I couldn't catch you all by myself. But what a pity, yes? Now you're half indebted to this man for his help."

"Hey, what are you talking about!?" But Dahlia ignored me once again.

"Alessa, my dear little girl. There is one thing left that I need you to do for me." Dahlia's face was stretched into a sly grin.

"No! Get away from me!" Alessa cried, beginning to stand up. Her eyes with wide with terror, and it dawned on me how cruel Dahlia must be if her daughter with so much of this _power_ was afraid of her.

"You are a naughty girl. Everything is ready. Let's go home now, shall we?"

Suddenly, the Flauros begins to rise again, emitting that strange blue light. It starts to grow and swell, and light surrounded everyone.

"What's happening!?" I yelled, but no one could hear me. The light got brighter and brighter, and soon we had to shield our eyes from the lights' intensity. Then, everything went black, and I felt myself falling into some unknown space….

Part V: Nowhere

Chapter 1

"Harry? Harry, wake up!" A voice called to me from the dark. I was surrounded by the pitch black, not able to see my own self. In fact, I couldn't feel myself. It was like I was weightless, floating in some black hole of nothingness. Like I was dreaming, but still partially awake somehow. The voice made me feel strange, pulling me back to reality. Everything moved around me, but I wasn't sure how I knew. Then the voice called again.

"Harry? Are you alright? Harry, wake up!"

Then everything whizzed past me, and I was floating through nothingness. Very abruptly, a light split open in the darkness, and I was pulled through. I felt myself return, and then my eyes opened to find myself once again in the examination room of Alchemilla Hospital. How many times would I end up here? What was the significance here? Perhaps this entire experience was one bad dream after another. Maybe it all _was _a dream?

"Lisa. What happened? Where's Alessa and Dahlia?"

"What are you talking about? They haven't been in here. Alessa couldn't anyway…" She trailed off, seeming to get upset.

"Lisa, do you know exactly what happened to Alessa? I heard she was in a fire. Is that right?"

"Yes…Dahlia's house caught on fire…one night. And Alessa was killed, trapped in the house. There was nothing Dahlia could do. At least I think that's what happened."

"What do you mean, you think?"

"Well, I remember some things very clearly before…all of this that's been happening. But some things are fuzzy. It's like I hit my head and have amnesia or something. I still don't know how I got into that weird room, the one where you found me. And once I started thinking about it, I couldn't stop it. It was driving me insane.

"So I went back to it, even though I was scared as hell. I hated being in there alone. And I was afraid. But when I went back, it felt…nostalgic. It was as if I'd been there many times before, only I don't remember why. But when I tried to remember…everything just slipped away. It really bothers me, Harry. And I don't know why. I need to remember!"

"It's okay, Lisa. Just calm down. It'll come to you. Sometimes rest is the best thing for your memory. Just stay here, and try…"

"I can't, Harry!" Lisa yelled in frustration, and stood up. Her eyes were wide with terror and confusion. "I…I have to know. Something bad happened and it has something to do with me! I've got to go back, I've…"

Without finishing her statement, she went flying out the examination room door in hysterics. What was wrong with her? She was so calm before, and now she was acting so unhinged. I began to feel she was in danger of herself, as if she might even….I had to find her. Upon standing up, I felt around in my pockets for the Flauros. It was gone. So was everything else. I searched again, but brought up nothing but a flashlight. I was picked clean.

How did I get here again? Maybe this Flauros thing teleported me, the same way Alessa seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

"Guess all I can do is try to find her," I thought. It was to my utter surprise what I found through the examination door Instead of the corridor of the hospital, I was in some open room. A small rail-less walkway went straight forward, surrounded by nothingness on all sides. One false step and…

An elevator…at the end of the walkway stood sentry, almost like it was waiting for me. Expecting me. I felt a pull, a very strong pull coming from it. The doors slowly opened as if in response to my thoughts, the inside looking like the inside of a creature's mouth.

It beckoned me. It called me. It was summoning me.

It was my destiny to get into that elevator. Nothing else in the world was more important right now than that.

I couldn't resist the elevator's beckoning. My feet moved forward, my movements trance-like, my body unable to resist the urge. Soon, I was inside and the doors closed behind me with a loud clang, my destiny fulfilled.

I wanted to be somewhere, _but it took me to Nowhere…_

I had no idea how long I was inside that elevator. It seemed much like a dream, consciousness never complete nor incomplete. The sense of time and space was surreal, and did not completely exist. In my dream-like haze, I thought of Jodie and Cheryl. Such a short time, three years. But they were far too great to dismiss. Cheryl, Jodie, and I would play together, laughing so much all the while. Cheryl loved to play peek-a-boo, and Jodie and I would take turns humoring her. The laughter was so great, so rich then.

Now, the laughter was choked off into a scream.

"Ahhh!" I stopped in mid-scream. It was me screaming…but why? I didn't know. I looked up, and found myself in a deserted hallway, covered in rust and rot. It looked very much like the hospital's hallway in the Nightmare version…wait..it _was _the hospital.

The sound of a girl giggling started me, and I jumped up. Suddenly, Cheryl was in the hallway, running towards the other end. "Cheryl!" I called, running after her. We made it to the end of the hallway, but Cheryl did not stop at the door on the end. She simply walked through it.

To my dismay, this wasn't actually Cheryl, it was simply an apparition. Was this similar to what Cybil saw? Once again, the thought of Cheryl already passing haunted me, but I pushed it aside. The door she passed through was locked, a flat metal bar lay across the width of the door, with screws in each corner of the bar. I couldn't stop now. There was still much for me to find out. I had to know, if not for Cheryl, for my own sanity.

Not knowing where else to go, I walked back to where I started and entered the first door on my left. It came to a set of stairs, which I dutifully went down. The end of the stairs came at the entrance to a…classroom? It was identical to one of the rooms from Midwich Elementary School. Where was I?

_I was Nowhere._

Approaching the desk, I saw that it was the same one that Alessa had been sitting at. In fact, it was the only desk. That was the only difference. There was still the strange weirds carved on the desk like "Thief," "Drop Dead." and "Evil." What kind of child carves things like this on her own desk? Or perhaps the other children did it. No, that wasn't it. They all seemed to be made by the same person.

I traced my fingers over the carving, and suddenly a vision appeared before me. The classroom was full with children, including Dahila Gillespie. Many of the children were yelling at Alessa, and she was backed up against the corner. They were throwing paper balls, jeering, and Dahila was doing nothing about it. In fact, she was…smiling. Not just a happy smile, but a smug smile that a criminal has in court when they know they're getting away.

Rage filled my veins. How could her mother sit there while these children tormented her? And then, just as suddenly as it came, the vision was gone.

I turned my attention to the nearby lockers, and checked them for anything. All were empty, except one with a key. The number "32" was etched on the side. I slipped it into my jeans pocket for later use. There was nothing else in the room worth looking at, so I returned back to the hallway. The next door down was locked, and I tried the key, but with no luck.

_Bang, bang!_

Suddenly, I could hear the sound of a loud banging from inside a room across from where I was standing. Going inside, I found a locker room, and it looked to be one from Midwich. The banging was louder now, a punched rattling noise, like something trapped, struggling inside a locker.

In the first row, there were only tall rectangular lockers, and the sound did not originate from any of them. The room was U-shaped, and so I went around the turn to the other side. These lockers were smaller and square shaped, and the sound was coming from the back area. The rattling was driving me insane by this point, and though I was afraid of what horror may lie before me I still tried to open it. Yet, it was locked and the numbers "32" were etched at the top. I tried the key with much success and upon unlocking the door, the rattling ceased. Inside, there was nothing but blood.

"Huh?" I wondered aloud, peering in closer. What was making that noise? Finally, I decided to head back to the hallway. It was as if some elaborate prankster was at work here. You can imagine my surprise then, as I was returning to the locker room door, when a tall locker suddenly burst open. I reeled, almost falling over in shock. A body had fallen out of the locker, covered in dried blood and completely mutilated.

I stopped, waiting for my heart rate to return to normal. If monsters didn't kill me first, I was going to literally die of a heart attack. I contemplated searching the body for a key (those seemed to be the way of life around here), but the smell was awful. Finally, knowing it may be the only way to progress any further, I reached in all the pockets. The corpse made _wonderful _sloshing noises as I moved it and my reaction was to throw up several times. I was able to keep it in check long enough to find my bounty…a screwdriver? Well, it was better than nothing, so I placed it in my back pocket. Seeing as I had no weapons, I could use it as a tool and somewhat of a weapon. Creativity was my strong suit, anyway.

Back in the hallway, I took the next door on the left, and to my surprise, I was in the Green Lion Antique Shop once again. This hallway must be some kind of portal to these other places, I thought. Or did it only emulate these places? They weren't exactly the same. In the shop, everything looked just as it did before, except when I went around the bend. Instead of being back in place, the clock stood to the side of the ragged hole in the wall, beckoning me. Naturally, I investigated. All was exactly the same with the altar and everything, except for the knife. The bloody knife from before laid directly in the middle of the floor instead on the altar. I picked it up for a closer look and found an inscription on it that said "Melchior." What could it mean? I held the knife in my hand, trying to find something that related to that word. I knew Melchior was the name of one of the Three Wise Men, but that was it. Then, I noticed a plaque above the altar that I hadn't noticed before. It read

"To Reveal Truth,

One Must First Sacrifice"

I noted the blood on the "knife's blade, and made the connection. This cult apparently believed that shedding blood revealed truth to them. At least I had some kind of weapon now. With nothing else, I went back out into the rustic hospital hallway. After coming across more locked doors, I approached the last one at the end, where Cheryl had gone through. Looking at the bar that secured the door, it dawned on me that I had entrance now. I took out the screwdriver from my pocket, and began working the screws out of the metal bar.

The bar began to loosen, and by the time I was working on the fourth screw, the bar hung loosely off of the doorframe. I pocket the screwdriver, having a feeling that I would need it again, and entered. Now, I was in the small waiting area that accompanied an elevator. It only went down, and so I went.

The next floor was like the one before, and I began my monotonous search. The first room hailed a birdcage, and a faucet. My heart leapt in my chest when I neared the birdcage, because the sound of fluttering wings started at my approach. Yet, there was no bird inside. Where was the fluttering coming from? I searched all around the room, with no sign of a bird. The sound seemed to be coming from the empty cage itself. So many oddities in this strange town. Moving on the next room, I found myself in a video store. After a quick look around, I realized it was the same one I passed on my way to the Green Lion Shop.

There were some empty counters, littered with trash and broken glass. My feet crunched on the glass as I explored. I gave it one last sweep on the broken glass counters when I noticed a small silver ring. I picked it up, feeling how strong the metal was. It looked ordinary, with no special quality about it. The difference was how it felt. It was almost weightless, yet somehow strong. The ring seemed to exude some sort of power. It had to be of some importance, I was sure. Everything was laid out for me like a path, just as Dahlia had said. Though she lied about other things, she seemed very right about me having a path to follow

After putting the ring in my pocket and double-checking the store, I went back out. Many doors were jammed shut, and then I reached a door around a small turn. The door was smaller, almost like a closet door. When I tried it, the knob turned slightly, but not all the way. I looked into the keyhole, and something was stuck in it. So I took out my trusty screwdriver, and worked it into the keyhole. It took a few minutes of swearing, twisting, and jiggling of the doorknob, but I finally got the door open. Inside, my hypothesis of a storeroom turned out to be right. It was almost identical to the storeroom in the hospital basemen, but it was bigger. A single door was slightly ajar at the other end, and so I slipped through.

Now, I was back in that very familiar room. The one that was hidden in the hospital basement. Yet, the blood on the bed looked fresher, as if there recently. In fact, after getting a better look, the blood wasn't even dry. The moisture of it on the bed shined slickly under the fluorescent light. I also noticed that the IV bag still had fluid in it. In fact, it dripped as if it was being used. Suddenly, three apparitions appeared before me.

Here was the scene: a small figure lay still on the bed, wrapped in blood-stained bandages. Dahlia Gillespie and Michael Kaufmann stood on each side of the bed, looking down on the bandaged figure.

"Everything is going according to plan. She is sheltered in the womb," Dahila said eerily.

"But it's not done yet. Half the soul is lost. That is why the seed lies dormant. What so remains captured in that husk... it's buried deep down in the subconscious. Does this mean it won't work?" Kaufmann asks.

"No, no. These are just stalling tactics. If we lend a hand we will be able to get power. Never fear. The promise shall not be broken."

"But the power we could draw now would be very weak; almost nothing. Unless we get the other half of the soul."

"We'll use a spell. Feeling this child's pain, it's sure to come. I am most certain it will work."

Suddenly, I realized that the child they were referring to was right there. The black hair stuck out of the bandages, and everything suddenly clicked into place in my mind.

The child was Alessa!

"But that will take time," Kaufmann commented.

"No rush, no rush. Soon, Alessa will come back. In the meantime, her hate and her suffering will only grow, making her all the more powerful when the souls reunite!"

The transparent figures disappeared, leaving me alone in the room once again. I pondered over what they said. What they aid sounded so cruel…Alessa's soul had split in two. And they were trying to…summon the soul back? Was this because of the fire? By the way Dahlia spoke, it almost seemed like she was joyful about Alessa's hate and suffering. Like she needed it for something. Answers were so close, but I still need just a little more. The pieces of the puzzle were about to fit, but there was only a couple of missing pieces to link them.

Seeing nothing else here for me, I went back out into the storeroom. When I got to the other door, leading back into the hallway, I heard a voice behind me.

"Harry?" A woman's voice called. I turned to see Lisa.

"Lisa, you're here!" I said in surprise. I went to embrace her, but something about the look on her face stopped me in my tracks. There was something unsettling about her.

"Harry…I feel awful…"

"What's wrong?"

"Well, you've just been so nice to me, and so helpful. You've done all that you can for me, even if it wasn't much. And in return, I've just given you grief. And I haven't been honest with you."

"Honest? What have you lied about?"

"Well, I've been holding something from you, and I can't do it anymore. And now that I know for sure, I can explain it. There's not much time left."

"Whoa, wait a minute. What are you talking about?"

"When you asked me if I knew anything about Alessa, and the fire, I lied. I know quite a bit. Everything, in fact."

"What do you mean?"

"Alessa was my patient. And she was in horrible shape when she got here. She had horrible, horrible burns. Worse than I had ever seen before. There was even gasoline on the her, so it was obvious that this was no accident…Dahlia _did this _to her! Clinically, she was dead. But she kept breathing somehow, and was alive. Something was keeping her from dying. Within an hour of her getting her here, Dr. Kaufmann moved her to this basement area, and hid her away. When I figured out why, I was appalled…

"Oh my God…"

"Yes, her own child. I didn't know that until later, and Kaufmann had me look after her. Once I figured out what was going on, I refused to be involved. I couldn't stand it anymore. But…Kaufmann…he had me hooked."

"What do you mean?"

"His dealings with Dahlia…he got me addicted to a drug called White Claudia. I had drug problems already, and he was always offering, so I eventually tried it. It didn't take long for me to get addicted. He threatened to not let me have anymore if I walked away. I…I wasn't strong enough. I let that poor girl continue to suffer instead. All for some stupid drugs to make me feel better. I-I'm an awful person…" She burst into tears, clutching her face and her shoulders hitching.

"Lisa, I…I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry."

"Am I a bad person, Harry? I think I am, and you probably do, too. Don't you think I'm a monster?"

"I'm…I'm not completely sure what to think. You shouldn't have gone through with it, but…I just don't know. This is all…very weird to me. Why would Dahlia set her own daughter on fire?"

"She needed it for some crazy ritual! Something about a Dark Paradise. One of the sacraments to finish the rite was for Alessa to suffer by causing great pain. Yet, that turned on her when all of that anger, rage, and pain created this nightmarish world! Before she could finish the ritual, Alessa cast a spell that split her soul in two."  
"Yes…I saw an image before…and Kaufmann said her soul had split."

"It was something Alessa did to protect herself and everyone else, a selfless act. To stop the end from coming."

"The end? How?"

"I don't know. Alessa had very special powers, and Dahlia was envious. Maybe she was afraid she would grow up and be more powerful than her. Yet, she thought instead to use it for this coming of paradise. In the process Alessa split her soul…to protect Dahlia from completing whatever it was she was trying to do."

"This is all…very frightening. I know Dahlia was cookey and all, but I didn't know Dahila was that…"

"Heartless? Cruel? Yes, she is quite evil. She talks about Alessa like she's some dark witch, when Dahlia's the evil one.. I also found out something else."

Lisa began slowly stepping towards me.  
"I was wondering for a while…why I'm not like the other nurses, you know? Why they changed, and I'm still the same. Well, it's very simple. I'm not different! I'm just like them!"

As she continued speaking a droplet of blood began to run down from under her hat.

"Lisa, you've got blood…"

"I'm not different at all! I never wanted to change, but I just had to accept what was coming!"

Something in my stomach churned, and I got a really bad feeling. I stepped backward away from Lisa, and she simultaneously came towards me. The line of blood then became two lines, and soon multiple rivulets were pouring from her head, as if by some unseen wound that got worse. A forlorn, creepy smile of acceptance crossed her lips.

"Harry, stay with me a while longer? I want you to be with me when it happens. I'm so scared."

"Lisa, I…" I was getting nervous, watching the horrifying transformation. She might attack me, try to hurt me. I wasn't sure if I could bring myself to "taking care" of her. The horrible transformation continued, and Lisa's back started to hunch, and a pulsating tumor ripped out of the back of her uniform, oozing with blood. Her face was completely covered in blood, as well.

"Harry! Hold me, I'm so scared!" I felt my back hit the door behind me. The feeling of completely helplessness entangled me. Nothing could be done for Lisa, except to leave her. I couldn't stand the thought of killing her. She made mistakes, but underneath she was a kind soul. It would just be too much. Gently, I opened the door behind me and closed it. I immediately put all my weight into the door so she could not follow suit.

"Harry! Don't go, please!" Lisa cried from the other side. I could feel a pressure trying to push the door open from the other side, but it was feeble and weak.

"Please….let me in, Harry…" Her voice pleaded continually, and now sounded more distant. Soon, it was silent again and I sighed, sliding down the door and onto the floor. The town had claimed yet another victim. Who would be next to fall prey to its will…its power? I vowed not to be one of those, and if I could help it, neither Cheryl nor Cybil would be. I had to press on…for Cheryl if not for anyone else…

Chapter 2

I listened for a moment, and there was nothing. Quietly, I opened the door and found that Lisa was not on the other side. The room was completely empty. Well, almost. There was a journal in the middle of the floor. It was frayed, and worn with age. It stood open, and I picked it up without hesitation, knowing the contents were for me. The journal entry date was listed for {seven years ago}.

"_I don't understand! How can this child still be alive? I keep changing the bandages, but she just keeps bleeding! It doesn't ever stop, and neither does her pain. Her cries haunt me even when I'm away from her, knowing what has caused that pain. I told Kaufmann I didn't want to do this anymore, but he said I wouldn't get anymore White Claudia. He has me in his grip. I'm shaking now, going only four hours without it. I'm so addicted…I don't think I can stop. Damn him for ever letting me have it! I need help, but I couldn't risk them getting Dr. Kaufmann. I couldn't go without him, I love him… _

_ I'm not sure how much longer I can do this without going insane! This poor child is in so much pain. She cries out for her mom sometimes, and I can't help but cry, knowing she's the one who put her in this awful place to begin with."_

The next journal entry is dated six days later.

_"I'm very afraid. Alessa's not improving. In fact, she's been sleeping for the past three days. Kaufmann said that it was important she doesn't go comatose. She was muttering something to herself right before she fell asleep last. I'm afraid to tell Kaufmann. He'll think I let her slip. She tosses and turns sometimes, and I told Kaufmann that she was napping when he comes in to check on her. I'll have to tell him sooner or later. How can she not be dead? In a way, I wish she was. Better to pass on than to suffer like this. She screams in her sleep, and reaches out her hand. I'm not sure but it seems like she's in a coma._

_I checked her eyes once, and they looked….strange. They were…empty-looking. As if the very life was gone from them. Whatever Dahlia did to her…it's not ordinary. Knowing Dahlia, I think she put some sort of curse on her. That witch! Everyone knows what she is, but is afraid to say so. Her and her weird cultist friends. I don't know how they can do what they do. Having sacrifices and all. What is the world coming to? Kaufmann is coming to check on Alessa in a couple of hours. I think I'm going to tell him about Alessa's condition. If he finds out on his own, he'll be even more mad…"_

And the journal ended there. I shuddered, bearing the thought of agony that poor child was in. It was so unjust. Dahlia was the evil one, no matter how you saw it. Alessa was causing this nightmare town, but Dahlia made Alessa the way she is. A child with half a soul, suffering on a hospital bed. Her nightmares in her sleep must be what's manifesting on the town. I slammed the book shut, letting it fall to the floor.

I knew one thing for sure.

Dahlia would pay for this.

I turned back into the hallway, and entered the door adjacent to the storeroom. The smell of spoiled meat and fruit hit me, and I covered my nose at once. I was in a kitchen, and the smell was overpowering. There was no food out in the open, but the source was very clear. A refrigerator unit stood in front of me, seeming to loom over the room. How a refrigerator could look so intimidating, I wasn't sure. I inspected the room and found nothing else. When I passed by the fridge for the second time, I noticed a strange metal symbol on it. It didn't dawn on me at first, but the object was in the shape of the Samael mark found all over Silent Hill.

My hand went out to take it, but an alarm went off loudly in my head. The mark began to glow when I reached out for it, and I withdrew my hand. The glow died back down. It was some kind of trap. Feeling on edge, I pondered what would happen if I took it. I didn't wonder for long, because I then picked up on noises inside the refrigerator. I pressed my ear to it, and heard gurgling, slurping noises. An image of a hospital room, and brown tentacles attacking a bloodpack resurfaced. Perhaps this was another one of those creatures.

So if I took this Samael piece, perhaps this thing would come out and grab me. Which meant that this relic was important. I examined the fridge, and noticed there were two pieces of chain on each side. Putting it together mentally, I took the two links and pushed them to each other. Yet it stopped short only an inch or two. It was just too short to make them fit.

My hands immediately went in my pockets, and I tried to think of what I could use. A piece of cool metal touched my fingertips, and I put my fingers around the ring I had picked up in the shop. Taking the ring out, I held it up to the two pieces of chain. It was just big enough to link the two chain pieces. Yet, there was no opening to put the ring through. Then, as the ring touched one of the links, the ring began to glow, and it suddenly latched itself to one of the links.

I jumped back in astonishment. The ring must have some kind of enchantment on it. I pulled at it, and felt it hold strongly. It was like some supernatural magnetic field surrounded the ring. I placed the other chain link to the ring, and stepped back. It fit just right, and held strong. So then, I took the metal Samael symbol off the fridge, and watched as the symbol grew a dark, blood red color. Then, a loud bang issued from the refrigerator. My breath caught in my throat, and I slowly let it out. I was safe…for now.

The refrigerator door bulged and bowed outward, the thing inside struggling to get out. Yet, the chain held sure. That ring had the power to contain this monster. If it were only a chain, the doors would have busted open, and this monstrosity inside would be dragging in there with it, doing God knows what to me.

I went back out into the hallway, and went further down. Everything was locked, except for another door at the very end. Opening it, I found myself back in the schoolyard of Midwich Elementary. Everything was the same…except the clocktower. I hadn't paid much attention to it before, because it didn't have anything unusual about it. Now, I noticed red handwriting on the front of it, written in blood.

"Do Not Enter! Those who do, there will be no return."

It seemed like some cryptic message to keep children out, but I could feel in this place, that there was more. The door that was across the schoolyard was not there. This clocktower had to be the way. I approached the door, and saw there was no door handle. Only a small split opening down the middle, like in an elevator door. I grabbed it from the middle, and pulled outward. With a groaning from the heavy wood, I pulled it open halfway. Two more shoves, and I had it open wide enough to squeeze through. It was a short doorway, around the height of a child.

Squatting down to step through, I was immediately reminded of Alice in Wonderland.

_Down I go, into the rabbit hole._

I was able to stand back up only a second later, the ceiling higher on the inside. It was a tightly-fit corridor, made of wood on all sides. Straight ahead, there was a metal ladder leading down. Without a second thought, I walked over and descended. It went down, further and further, seeming to stretch on forever. Finally, my feet were on the ground again. Straight across from me was another ladder, leading back up. I crossed the hall again, and ascended. As I climbed up the rungs, the tower led out a loud clanging chime for the hour. It was three o clock. Atop the ladder I came to another corridor just like the first, and a door leading out. As I stepped back out, I knew I was on the Otherside.

I was back into the schoolyard, but this one the Nightmare version. The door that wasn't there earlier was back, and the one I'd entered from was gone. Standing in front of the door, I had this gut feeling that something big…something extremely important was on the other side. Holding my breath, I entered through the door, never minding the light rain and darkness that had settled. The place I found myself appeared to be a house. It was a long, wooden hallway with a door leading to the left and one straight ahead.

I tried the door on the left, and was immediately disturbed by what I saw. It was a small room, with a slanting wall on the other end, like the side of a roofed house. Yet, the slant was not what bothered me.

Words were scribbled hurriedly across the entire room. There wasn't an inch of the room that didn't have writing on it. I gazed around the room, trying to read as much as I could.

"Witch!" "Death." "Burn." "Sacrifice." "Suffer."

I turned my eyes to the floor.

"Demon." "Wretch." "Paradise." "Rebirth." "Unclean." "Eternal Darkness." "Purify."

What kind of madness caused this? I thought. The room might as well have been made of rubber walls. Someone had literally lost their mind here. Feeling an evil presence there, I stepped back out.

I went to the door at the other end. Looking around the room for only moments, I realized that this was Alessa's room. I was somehow in her house. Various sketches were on the walls, some innocent and some not-so-innocent. There was one of buildings, burning down. One of a child holding her mother's hand, but the mother had a demon's head, her hair made of snakes like Medusa. One was of red glowing eyes. Another was of a flower, with a sun overhead. One drawing had a teacher, teaching at school. There was a bed there, worn and used at one time, but not recently. Various dolls sat in corners of the room. One of them was the creepy Robbie Rabbit doll. I tossed it under the bed, not able to take its apocalyptic stare.

There was a door at the other end with a picture of the Samael mark on it. I held my breath, knowing that something very bad was on the other end. Probably Dahlia, but I didn't care. She needed to pay for her horrible crimes. Yet, the doorknob did not turn.

I then thought about the Samael symbol I had, and held it up to the drawing. Nothing happened. I tried again, with no result. I scanned the room, and noticed writing above the door.

It was the same phrase from the Other Church.

"To reveal Truth,

One Must First Sacrifice."

It hit me. I understood why this task for me, and me alone. Everything I had done, I had done for Cheryl. It was a sacrifice of my well being. And to enter, I must draw a blood sacrifice. I took out the knife, and made a small cut across my hand. I pressed my bleeding hand onto the Samael symbol, and touched it to the drawing on the door. At once, a light enveloped the door, and I had to cover my eyes from the brightness. A whooshing sound came, and then the light died instantly. The door creaked open, inviting me in. I couldn't resist the invitation. It was too great.

Chapter 3

I was now in a hallway, the same style as before. It was apparently on a second story, shown by the staircase in front of me that led downstairs. Just as I was about to move forward, two transparent shapes appeared before me. It was Dahlia and Alessa.

The scene was of Alessa, sitting on the ground, and Dahlia was pulling on Alessa's arm, attempting to get her up.

"Come on! Come on, now!" Dahlia coaxed.

"No! No! I don't want to!" Alessa pleaded, her eyes wide in fear.

"Do as mommy tells you, now. I just want you to lend me a teeny bit of your power, that's all."

"No! I don't want to do it! I'm tired of you making me use them! The other kids at school, they call me a witch."

"They're just jealous, honey. Doing this will make everyone happy... and it's for your own good too. Mommy's so proud of your gifts!"

"But mommy, I just want to be with you, I don't' want to use my powers."

"You really mean it...yes? I see. Maybe mommy has been wrong."

"Mommy...?"

"Why didn't I see this before? There's no reason for me to have to do it. Herein lies the mother's womb. To obtain the power to create life. I could have done it all myself."

"Mommy!?"

The ghostly figures disappeared. Suddenly, a white light shone from the stairs. I could feel the power emanating from it. Dahlia was the down there, I was sure. And surely Cheryl, was with her.

Taking two steps at a time, I made my way down in seconds. The light seemed to dim as I went down, only giving off just enough light to see. Now I was in an unknown area, with that familiar metal grating floor. Symbols of Samael were in all over the floor, formed by the metal ground itself. There was no end through the bottom, like the abyss in the town. There was no ceiling, and it appeared as if we were outside..though it was hard to tell because it was so dark. Not far ahead, I could make out three shapes.

I walked forward, and was not surprised to find Dahlia Gillespie. With her, was Alessa Gillespie and…I wasn't quite sure what the other figure was. As I got closer, I saw it was a wheelchair, and someone sitting in it. They were all bandaged up , so I had to assume it was Alessa.

"Dahlia!" I cried, taking a stance.

"I was shocked to realize the talisman of Metraton was being used. In spite of the lost soul returning at last. Just a little longer and all would've been for naught. It's all because of that man. We must be thankful to him. Even though Alessa has been stopped, his little girl has to go. What a pity..." And she began to laugh maniacally, her voice high and piercing.

"Freeze!" A voice called from behind Dahlia, and Cybil stepped into view.

"Cybil, you made it!" I called.

"Go ahead and shoot if you like. This child will die no matter!" Dahlia taunted. Cybil fired off a shot, and suddenly a blue shield appeared around Dahlia. It must have blocked the shot.

"What in the devil's name...!" Cybil says in shock. Dahila grins darkly, and waves her arm towards Cybil. A large shockwave appears through the air, and knocks Cybil down.

"Dahlia! Stop this madness!" I cried, approaching her.

"Well, well, well. To think you'd make it this far. I'm impressed, I must say. I was speaking loosely about being led, but apparently it is true. You truly are gifted."

"Where's Cheryl!? What have you done to her!?"

"What are you talking about? You've seen her many times. Restored to her former self."

"I'm in no mood for jokes! Where is she?"

"Don't you see? She's right here." She then pointed to the figure wrapped heavily in bandages in the wheelchair.

"Cheryl? That's absurd! I know that's Alessa. How could you have done that to her? No more lies, Dahlia!"

"Everyone else knows it is true. You are the only one who thinks that it is a lie."

Though I still didn't believe her, a feeling of dread began to spread through me. What if it that _was _Cheryl? What had she done to her?

"Why? Why are you doing this?"

"It's been a long seven years...For the seven years since that terrible day, Alessa has been kept alive, sufferring a fate worse than death. Alessa has been trapped in an endless nightmare, from which she never awakens."

And Cheryl…somehow she was Alessa.

"You see now, don't you? I needed to birth a God, but I wasn't strong enough. But Alessa, her powers were more than enough. Yet, the God had to be born from someone full of hate and scorn. So, I subjected her to much ridicule from other children and treated her awful. It wasn't very hard. I set her on fire as part of the ceremony. That suffering also helped fuel the pain. To make sure she stayed alive I used a special fire that wouldn't kill her. But, I was interrupted and she was more sly than I had anticipated. She used a spell of her own that split her soul in two, so that I wouldn't have enough power from her to perform the ritual.

"And so we had to use a spell to retrieve Alessa back. She was found by you, apparently. And you named her Cheryl. But, for years, the monster has lurked in this husk of her former self." She gestured to the burnt, bandaged figure. "This part of Alessa contained all the hate and spite. Through her comatose-like state, she is trapped in an endless nightmare. When you came near Silent Hill, you awoke the other half. With the two so close to each other, the power began returning and created this nightmare world here in Silent Hill?

" 'He' has been nurtured by that nightmare. Waiting for the day to be born. That day has finally come. The time is neigh. Everyone will be released from pain and suffering. Our salvation is at hand. This is the day of reckoning. When all our sorrows will be washed away. When we return to the true paradise!"

Dahlia raises her arms and looks up, a look of contentment and joy. The expression chilled me, seeing how mad this woman really was.

"My daughter…will be the mother of God!" She hollers in ecstasy, and then her cry is cut off by a loud report. Dahlia is knocked over immediately, and blood begins to bloom out over her shawl.

"Oh!" She utters, and falls face down. Into the light walks Michael Kaufmann, a briefcase and pistol in his hand. He looked seriously irked, and no doubt he was ready to kill Dahlia.

"Quit screwing around! Return things to how they were before, you canneiving witch!" Kaufmann seems to almost spit the words with hate.

"Did I ask for all of this! No! Nobody uses me! You won't get away with this!" Kaufmann stares hard down at Dahlia. Somehow still smiling, Dahila gets up on her hands and knees, and cackles.

"Your role is over, pawn! We don't need you anymore. What do you think you can accomplish by coming here?"

Kaufmann gives her a swift kick in the ribs, and Dahlia clutches her side in pain.

"My, aren't we getting cocky? You're too used to things going your way. I think it's time we level the playing field a little bit."

Kaufmann takes out a vial from his pocket, and I immediately recognized it as the same liquid that I used on Cybil.

"Aglaophotis! I thought I got rid of that!"

"All I had to do was plant a fake for you to find! It was all too easy! You think you're so smart, planning your Paradise and cleansing of the world! Hah! You're nothing but a washed-up hag!"

Here I was, thinking Kaufmann was a bad guy all along. But really, he was only a slave to his greed. And like everyone else, he was hurt by Dahlia's actions.

"Stop it!" Dahila cries in horror.

Kaufmann tosses the vial towards where Alessa and the monstrous bandaged figure, and it breaks on the floor. The contents shatter, spilling on both. Suddenly, a white light envelopes both Alessa and the figure in the wheelchair. The light glows hotter and hotter, then softens. In the place of the two is one person. It's an angel-like figure, with wings, white robe, and a halo. A soft white glow surrounded the angelic figure. Yet, her eyes told a different story. I had a strange feeling that this thing was far from an angel.

"Huh? What's all this?!" I questioned madly.

Dahlia looks over at the glowing Alessa-like figure, and begins laughing madly. The peals of laughter reverberate through the air.

"What on earth? It's not supposed to..." Kaufmann mutters softly to himself in disbelief. Suddenly, the angelic figure turns to Dahlia. I could feel hate and anger coursing through the creature, radiating in waves. This was a God? I couldn't believe it be God. This was a wolf in sheep's clothing. The Death Angel raised its arm, and a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, striking Dahlia. Electricity coursed through Dahlia, and she was dead almost instantly.

Kaufmann's eyes widened in horror, and he fired off a shot to the creature. It did nothing, as the bullet seemed to liquefy when it came near the creature. He tucked tail and ran, disappearing out into the dark night. The creature turned and faced me, and its eyes flared with red hate. This thing…it could destroy the world if what they said was true. Maybe I could still hurt it, while it was still not at full strength.

Yet, how was I supposed to kill it? Kaufmann's bullets melted when they simply got close. This Death Angel creature would kill me in seconds if I didn't act quickly. It walked toward me, as I scanned the area, trying to find something I could use. I realized in horror that wherever the Angel stepped, the ground beneath was scorched and worn, as if exposed to acid and fire. I shudder to think what it could do if it touched me.

I strafed to my right, keeping my distance from it while looking around for some kind of weapon. Cybil was not too far off, with her gun near her. But I knew the gun was useless. I had to do something. I saw Dahlia lying not five feet from me, and began to wonder if she had some kind of magical object with her, one that might protect me. Moving backward, I reached behind me to turn Dahlia. Before my hand could even touch her, I suddenly pulled my hand back. I felt electricity crackle through the air so close to me, my hairs stood on end. The thing had tried to strike me, just as it had Dahlia. I went to grab at Dahlia, but another bolt of lightning struck nearby. It seemed that she wasn't going to let me touch Dahlia.

Suddenly the Angel turned and faced Cybil's unconscious form. Her arm raised and she seemed to be preparing for another shock.

"No!" I cried, and ran full speed toward Cybil. This action didn't show any notice from the creature, and in mid run, I could see blue sparks materializing in the Angel's hand. It was either Cybil or me. And so I leaped through the air, landing in between the creature and Cybil.

"Stop!" I cried, putting my hands up. Although I never really truly knew Cybil, I felt I had to at least give her a chance to escape. I'd lived a good life. I'd had a wife and a daughter with good memories. Suddenly, I saw something change in the creature's eyes. The red in them started to fade a little, and her body stance relaxed.

"Why do you do this?" The Angel spoke, its voice arcane and feminine. "You _wish_ to die?"

"I do…if it means that she might live," I spoke, my words coming in blurbs because my heart was beating so fast. "I've lost my wife and my daughter already…I want her to have a chance to live." At any second, this creature that was once my daughter would take my life. I waited, but it never came. In the atmosphere, something changed. No words could touch it, but something began to change. An aura of light surrounded me, and it seemed to stretch out, covering everything. When it reached the creature, the creature's own light dissolved away. That evil aura that it exuded before seemed gone.

Cybil stirred beside me, and lifted her head.

"What…?" She muttered, looking around. I walked over and helped her up, and she was able to stand on her own.

"I think I stopped it…" I said, and looked over at the creature.

I could now see the creature's face, and it looked much more like Cheryl's, sanguine and angelic. That darkness was still there, hidden behind it. Now, it was not the creature, it was my daughter.

"Go talk to her," Cybil said, urging me on.

"Daddy?" The thing spoke, now in my daughter's voice.

"Cheryl!" I said, and approached her. Apparently, the magical shield was gone.

"I love you, Daddy," she said, and then began to tremble. "I'm home now…where I should have always been. This is my goodbye…you have to kill me. That thing is still a part of me." I felt tears well up in my eyes, knowing what she was said was probably true.

"It doesn't have to be this way," I said in denial, reaching out to hold her, but she shied away.

"No! I…can hold it back only for a minute longer. If you let it get too strong…it will destroy everything! You have to do it. You have to!" She shouted. I turned to Cybil, shooting her a desperate look. There was no answer for me in her eyes, she only looked back helplessly.

"No, not like this…" I said, beginning to weep. She was the only daughter I had, and now I had to give her up. Tears streamed down my face, and I wanted to hold her, to sit her in my lap one last time. I could see the strain on her face. She was holding on so hard, to keep the Death Angel from coming back. The love I had shown for Cybil overcame the Angel, and that act of sacrifice was what let Cheryl take over.

"Harry, I need you to move," I heard Cybil say from behind, and I saw from over my shoulder she had the gun drawn and ready. Her face was set and determined, yet strained. She didn't want to do this as much as I didn't.

"I...I don't think I can, " I said in between sobs. Suddenly, a faded light began to appear around Cheryl.

"You…have…to," she said in a strained tone. "I can't hold it back much longer."

"I can't let this happen…"

The light began to grow.

"Do it! Do it now!"

"No, I can't…"  
"Kill me!" And I collapsed, holding my head down. In slow motion, I heard multiple gunshots. The bullets sailed over my head, and crashed into her chest. Blood seeped out, and Cheryl hitched forward on one knee. Cybil stepped forward, and shot until her gun was empty.

"Stop!" I cried, and grabbed Cybil's arm. She struggled, and shook me off, keeping her eyes locked on Cheryl. Another wound had opened, and now the once-white dress was stained a dark crimson. The aura of light that had once surrounded her was dying out, and so was she.

I walked over to her, kneeling against her.

"Cheryl…" I wept, holding her.

"Daddy…thank you," she said, and her eyes were once that color of my little girl again. More tears. More weeping.

"Here," Cheryl said, her voice started to fade. She held out her arms, and a white light formed a shape in the crook of her arms. The light went out, and in its place was a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes.

"This is your chance…to start over. Go," she said, and handed the baby to me. As soon as the baby was in my arms, she smiled at me one last time, and fell over dead. My tears were almost gone. I had none left to shed. Yet, I knelt there, my shoulders hitching and my sobs coming in ebbs. It was too much. A hand touched my shoulder. It was Cybil's.

"Harry…" She said gently, looking down at me and the new baby. "Is this…?"

"Yes…" I said, my despair turning to hope. All was not completely lost. I was being given a second chance. Then, I heard a sound much like a bottle rocket lifting into the air. Only, this sound was coming from the air to the ground. A red and yellow fire shot through the air, and landed twenty feet away. It hit the metal grid floor, and stayed there, burning away. It was some kind of supernatural fire.

"We have to go, Harry," Cybil said gently, but firmly. I nodded silently, and stood up, looking at the baby. It was fast asleep, so oblivious to the world around it. That was a very good thing.

We looked around us and soon realized we didn't' know how to get out. We were Nowhere, weren't we? As if in answer, a light like a star suddenly shone to our right, and we could see that it was lighting a path for us.

"There it is, the way out," we heard a voice behind us. Dr. Kaufmann stood there, his briefcase still in one hand. "Let's get the hell outta here," he spoke, and we all nodded in agreement. Then, his smirk of confidence changed. As much as we wanted to run, we simply stopped and watched the next scene that unfolded.

The ground opened up behind Kaufmann, and an arm shot out and wrapped around his leg. He was being forcefully dragged backwards, his feet kicking wildly. Over his shoulder, we could see the bloody and deformed face of Lisa Garland, a grin of triumph over her face. Kaufmann screamed for mercy, begging not to be killed. Lisa took no heed to his pleas and soon pulled him into a dark embrace. Kaufmann only stared horrified, and Lisa embraced him into a kiss and then they suddenly fell through the floor where she had come from. The mixed sounds of Kaufmann's screams and Lisa's laughter could be heard above the whoosh and crack of the fire raining down.

Cybil and I both looked at each other and down at the baby. In one quick movement, we ran with all that we had. Out feet pounded the metal, rattling as we ran. Fires continued to soar around us, striking metal and leaving scorched and blackened marks wherever they touched. Silent Hill was being taken care of, it seemed.

The light began to get brighter and brighter, and soon our environment changed around us as we ran. What was hard, clanging metal, became asphalt once again softened with a light snow. The once dark sky was now a hazy blue, with small bits of snow drifting through the air. Peace filled our souls, and we traveled on. Before we knew it, the snow was nonexistent, and the weather was normal as it had been before I arrived at Silent Hill.

Soon, we passed a "Welcome to Silent Hill" sign. We had made it out alive. But we would never soon forget the nightmare we had survived in Silent Hill…

Part VI: Aftermath

"So this baby, the one that was created by this…Angel-Demon creature, lives with you now?" The doctor asked, interested.

"Yes. That's the real origin of my daughter, Heather. She was adopted, basically. But we tell most people that that we just found her, which was exactly how we actually found Cheryl. Most people wouldn't believe me if I told them the real story."

"Oh, understandably. It's simpler that way. And I'm sure you're tired of being called a lunatic."

"Yes, absolutely. I mean, had it not happened to me, I'd never believe it, either."

"That's a good way of looking at it objectively. But you would like someone to believe you, outside of you and Cybil. It reminds you that you're not crazy."

"Yeah, it would be nice. But I know it's not going to happen. I mean, I'm sure you don't believe me…do you?"

"Mr. Mason, I'm not sure how to answer that. On one hand, it sounds crazy and impossible. Magic, creatures, a dark God to form an apocalyptic Paradise, a Nightmare world. But then again, your incredible attentiveness to detail…you don't often get that especially with such consistency. It does make me wonder how much it is really made up. So I'll tell you this…I believe that what happened in Silent Hill is what you truly experienced. Whether it happened in my scope or reality is questionable, but I really believe you went through what you went through…even if it was mentally…does that make sense?"

"Yes… I guess it does. At least you don't think I'm nuts."

"Oh, I don't think you're crazy, Mr. Mason. You're not hysterical. I've seen many crazy people in my day, and you're much too coherent. I just think perhaps you need some anxiety or sleep medication for your nightmares."

"Yeah…probably so."

"So…if I may ask…what drove you to live here in Silent Hill, now? You went through such an incredibly dark and horrifying experience. Why is this? I personally would get as far away as possible."

"Dr. Ingram…I really don't know, honestly. At first I wanted to see if it was really here, after all. And it was, the normal town, of course. I guess that I wanted to face my fears . Even after I went back home, it was as if the town stayed with me. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Every street corner reminds me of something that occurred here. It was all so real…the strange happenings. There are remnants of it everywhere. And also…I think this town is just so…magnetic. Seeing the normal town was quite enchanting. Something about it pulls you in. Once you're been there…you have to go back.

"Almost like the town beckoned me here, just like the spell beckoned Cheryl. It pulls you in, and takes you hostage. And the cost of living is pretty cheap, so that's nice. Haha."

"Yes, that makes perfect sense. That's great that you're facing your fears, Mr. Mason. Now…I want to start…"

Suddenly, I jumped at the sound of my cell phone ringing. I immediately recognized the ringtone as my daughters.

"Oh, could you wait one second? I asked.

"I'm paid by the hour, sir. Take your time," Ingram replied, smiling. I nodded, and listened to my daughter's' voice.

"Hey, Dad, I'm at the mall. I need you to…"

And that was the last time I heard my daughter's voice…


End file.
